The GCC offered everything from alcohol-free dances and macramé classes to meeting spaces for political organizations such as Gay Community Social Services. The GCC moved to Capitol Hill around 1973, and was destroyed by arson in 1976. Even in this 1970s "liberation" period, claiming a space and labeling it gay was risky. Gay Community Social Services supported a variety of projects that reflects the growth in a community.
Located on the Olympic Peninsula, near Port Angeles, Elwah Farms was a gay version of the “back to the land” movement of the mid 70s. A portion of the land was devoted to a women-only space. Another project of GCSS was the album, Lavender Country. Perhaps the first truly visible “out” space in the city was Shelly’s Leg. Seattle's first disco, Shelly's Leg, opened in 1973 "at the foot of main" in Pioneer Square. Though frequented by both gays and straights, a prominently displayed sign declared that Shelly's Leg was gay territory. Shelly's Leg exemplifies a shift in attitude in the gay and lesbian community, which was no longer content to meet only in discreet bars and hidden after-hours clubs.Įstablished in the bars and liberated by New York City's Stonewall riots in 1969, the lesbian and gay community branched out in the 1970s.
Seattle's lesbians and gays commemorated Stonewall with protests and rallies throughout the early '70s. In 1977 Mayor Uhlman declared the first "Gay Pride Week" in Seattle. That year, gays and lesbians marched in the streets of Pioneer Square, demanding recognition and celebrating their visibility.