Gay Seattle: Stories of Exile and Belonging [Hardcover]

Gary Atkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003

In 1893, the Washington State legislature quietly began passing a set of laws that essentially made homosexuality, and eventually even the discussion of homosexuality, a crime. A century later Mike Lowry became the first governor of the state to address the annual lesbian and gay pride rally in Seattle. "Gay Seattle" traces the evolution of Seattle's gay community in those 100 turbulent years, telling through a century of stories how gays and lesbians have sought to achieve a sense of belonging in Seattle.Gary Atkins recounts the demonization of gays by social crusaders around the turn of the century, the earliest prosecutions for sodomy, the official harassment and discrimination through most of the twentieth century, and the medical discrimination and commitment to mental hospitals that continued into the 1970s as homosexuality was diagnosed as a disease that could be "cured." Places of refuge from this imposed social exile were created in underground theater and dance clubs: the Gold Rush-era burlesque shows, modern drag theater, and in mid-century the emergence of openly gay bars, from the Casino to Shelley's Leg. Many of these were subjected to steady exploitation by corrupt police - until bar owner MacIver Wells and two Seattle Times reporters exposed the racket.The increasingly public presence of gays in Seattle was accompanied by the gradual coalescence of social services and self-help organizations such as the Dorian Society, gay businesses and advocacy groups including the Greater Seattle Business Association, and the stormy relationship between the Vatican, Seattle's Catholic hierarchy, and gay worshippers. Atkins' expertly rendered narrative reveals the complex and often frustrating process of claiming a civic life, showing how gays and lesbians have engaged in a multilayered struggle for social acceptance against the forces of state and city politics, the police, the media, and public opinion. The emergence of mainstream political activism in the 1970s, and ultimately the election of Cal Anderson and other openly gay officials to the state legislature and city council, were momentous events, yet shadowed by the devastating rise of AIDS and its effect on the homosexual community as a whole.These stories of exile and belonging draw on numerous original interviews as well as case studies of individuals and organizations that played important roles in the history of Seattle's gay and lesbian community. Collectively, they are a powerful testament to the endurance and fortitude of this minority community, revealing the ways a previously hidden sexual minority "comes out" as a people and establishes a public presence in the face of challenges from within and without. "Gay Seattle" is an important resource for gay and lesbian studies as well as American gay history, Pacific Northwest history, and the study of minority communities.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gay Seattle covers much of the past century, and the post-1950s history in quite useful detail. It offers the first published account of the formation of gay and lesbian political organizations in the city. The city's gay history is distinctive owing to the port influence and the notorious police protection system that Atkins explores very effectively. This is fine regional history, reflecting extensive archival research, as well as interviews. It also is impressively well written."--Roger Simpson, co-author of An Evening at the Garden of Allah: A Gay Cabaret in Seattle

About the Author

Gary Atkins is associate professor of communication at Seattle University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 451 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295982985
• ISBN-13: 978-0295982984
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #621,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great information, lots of detail for Seattle residents, October 27, 2010

By 

jim - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gay Seattle: Stories of Exile and Belonging (Hardcover)

The book Gay Seattle covers the effect gay folks had on Seattle (and the reverse) from the '70's to recent times. It includes names and dates and is a great sourcebook for further study.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Robert Sirico's Bizarre Careening Chronicled, December 12, 2010

By 

Peter P. Fuchs (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gay Seattle: Stories of Exile and Belonging (Hardcover)

What an interesting history from what I can see online. Especially the information dealing with the now rabidly anti-gay spectre known as Fr. Robert Sirico who is dealt with at length in this book. What is crucial to note is the vacillating, impressionable and unstable picture of Sirico that is painted. Could any reasonable person not see a parallel in his later "conversion" back to reactionary Roman Catholicism?? What a tawdry tale of this man displays, and for historians, one of the most pathetic ambles through complex moral issues possible. Sirico and Seattle's gay history is a very telling and damining matter.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable - and a good read, November 23, 2004

By 

Nathaniel R. Brown (Edmonds, Washington) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gay Seattle: Stories of Exile and Belonging (Hardcover)

I'm just finishing off Gay Seattle, by Gary Atkins, and can't recommend it too highly. The history is local, but the "general" history is good, gripping and valuable, and serves as a microcosm for gay history across the country. I'd forgotten how dreadful the '70's were, and how close we came to losing a lot of very solid gains. The religionists and the conservatives took over, and for a while there it was pretty bleak - quite like now: defeats all over, then slow progress. The politcal end of the book is good to read too, and reads like a good discussion of the various "how's" of political/social progress.

Well-written, immediate, and hard to put down.

Highly recommended.

NRB