The Gay Community Center opened in June 1974 on Capitol Hill after a short time in its first location near Pioneer Square. The new location was close to the Seattle Counseling Service, which focused on the mental health needs of Seattle’s gay community. The GCC had postings for jobs and housing, a library with LGBTQ+ themed books and pamphlets, and a 24-hour phone line. It also collected clothing and food to donate to community members in need. The GCC started a newsletter that evolved into the Seattle Gay News, Seattle’s oldest gay publication.

This newsletter was published in January 1975. It contains a pledge card for financial donations and updates on projects the GCC was working on: leasing land for a campsite for gay people, starting a lesbian newsletter, and a proposed Gay Studies program at UW. The newsletter also includes an update on a zoning dispute surrounding the GCC’s location on Capitol Hill and an article written by a gay prison inmate about the threats faced by gay men in prison including sexual assault and neglect on the part of prison authorities.

Caption information source: Gary Atkins, Gay Seattle (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2003), 166-168.