The Seattle Gay News (SGN) was founded in 1976 to provide news coverage focusing on Seattle’s gay community; it is the third oldest LGBTQ+ newspaper in the US. Seattle Gay News started as a newsletter produced by the Gay Community Center. It provided news to a community that was largely ignored by mainstream newspapers and advocated for gay rights in numerous campaigns. Especially during the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, it was an important source of information and helped members of the community to support each other. Since its founding, the SGN has widened its focus to Seattle’s LGBTQ+ community more broadly.

This issue was published on November 8, 2013 and its headline reports election results from earlier that week. Ed Murray was elected Seattle's first openly LGBTQ+ mayor. Murray is pictured celebrating with his husband and supporters. Before being elected mayor, Murray was in the Washington House of Representatives (1995-2007) and the Washington State Senate (2007-2013). Murray resigned as mayor before the end of his term after five people accused him of child sexual abuse. Other front page stories celebrate the success of marriage equality in Illinois and the passage of a bill in the Senate prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The House of Representatives failed to pass this bill, but in 2020 the Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.