Gay Liberation Front Protesting Police Harassment (May 6, 1973)

Members of Seattle’s chapter of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) picket in front of Police Chief George Tielsch’s condominium on Sand Point Way. The man in the center is holding a picket sign reading, “Are Homosexuals Revolting? You bet your sweet ass we are!” The group peacefully paraded for about four hours, drawing attention to Chief Tielsch’s refusal to discuss accusations of uniformed police harassing LGBTQ+ people, particularly in the Pioneer Square area, where most of Seattle’s gay night spots were concentrated. (2000.107.073.36.01, Brownell, Tom, Seattle P-I Collection, MOHAI)

Gay Liberation Front Protesting Police Harassment (May 6, 1973)

Members of Seattle’s chapter of the Gay Liberation Front picket in front of Police Chief George Tielsch’s condominium. Some of the demonstrators carry signs, reading “Gay For Good,” “Now is Our Time, Gay is Good,” “War Over A Word: Gay,” “I Have a Right  to Love My Way,” and “Stop Harassment of Drag Queens, Transvestites, & Transgenders.” (2000.107.073.36.02, Brownell, Tom, Seattle P-I Collection, MOHAI)

Poster Protesting Initiative 13 (Overturning Nondiscrimination Clause For Sexual Minorities) And Initiative 15 (Allows Police Use Of Deadly Force) (1978)

This poster urges voters in Seattle to reject Initiative 13, which proposed to overturn Seattle’s nondiscrimination clauses covering sexual minorities, and Initiative 15, which would allow the use of deadly force to apprehend an unarmed suspect. The movement against Initiative 13 coalesced into three major local organizations: Seattle Committee Against Thirteen (SCAT), Women Against Thirteen (later Women Acting Together), and Citizens to Retain Fair Employment (CRFE). (2002.23.8.6.1, Don Paulson Collection of Political and Social Ephemera, MOHAI)

Six Eleven Tavern ⁠— Gay Bars Had To Pay Off Police To Avoid Raids (1962)

In the mid-twentieth century, the only public place gay people could gather and feel relatively safe from discrimination and harassment, were gay bars. Bars became a safe second home for this community. This sign hung outside of the Six Eleven Tavern located at 611 Second Avenue in Pioneer Square, the center of gay life in Seattle until the 1970s. Like most bars in Seattle in the 1960s, the Six Eleven was subject to “blue laws” which were nearly impossible to obey without going out of business. Police officers demanded payoffs from bar owners of about $50-$70 per week in return for overlooking violations of blue laws. Because of the “immoral” nature and their mostly closeted clientele, gay and lesbian bars were particularly vulnerable to this kind of extortion. (2000.41.1, Northwest Lesbian and Gay History Museum Project, MOHAI)

Union of Sexual Minorites Protesting Police Harassment (October 14, 1975)

The flier pictured here gives detailed information to participants about a planned picket line organized by the Union of Sexual Minorities to “Stop Police Harassment,” “End Assault on Gays” and for “Community Control of the Police.” The Union of Sexual Minorities was an organization dedicated to raising awareness around issues related to a racist and sexist society. (2002.23.3.53.1, Don Paulson Collection of Political and Social Ephemera, MOHAI)

High School GSA Sweatshirt

by Rachel Spence, Public Programs Developer.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

by Emily Turner, Education.

ACT UP Cap

by Tom Wolfe, MOHAI Volunteer.

My #ObjectOfPride is a cap that I wore with great pride in several  ACT UP protest actions and events both in New York and Washington D.C. during the years of 1989 and 1990. I feel that it is especially important at times like these to revisit some of the lessons learned from an action group called by many as “Rash, Rude, and Effective” but held close the motto of Silence=Death.

Activism can in fact save lives and history now tells us that the ACT UP movement did save thousands by moving awareness into the headlines and conscience of middle class America. As we all hopefully move towards another better moment in our history I reflect back on a quote from an ACT UP founder Maxine Wolfe, “Government doesn’t always listen to us because we are smart. They listen because we are smart and we can threaten them.”

Wedding Cake Topper

by Roger J. Bass, MOHAI Board of Trustees

This is a hand carved topper for our wedding cake. It was carved by our friend and artist Steve Pappas. Ours was one of the early gay weddings in Seattle, held on April 26, 2013. Roger J Bass and Richard B Nelson.

Ribbon

by James Brock, MOHAI Community

My object of pride is this ribbon, worn in remembrance of those lost to AIDS.  Protests, marches, memorials and endless fundraisers this small strip of cloth was there, a blood red reminder of our community losses.