On 19 November 1958, an injunction instructed the city police not to question customers of gay bars unless there was a "good cause" in connection with an actual investigation.
In 1967 University of Washington's Professor Nick Heer founded the Dorian Society, the first group in Seattle to support LGBTQ rights.
Pioneer Square, also known as "Skid Road" or "Fairyville," with its bars, clubs, and cabarets probably was the center of early public gay life in Seattle.
The Double Header above The Casino, opened in 1934, was possibly the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the United States until it closed at the end of December 2015.
In the 1970s vaudeville had changed and Seattle began the trend of courts, public drag clubs "with 'emperors' and 'empresses' where "lip –synching would remove the need for singing talent and open the way to any man who could dance, quip, or even just costume.
Owners of such establishments would frequently bribe law enforcement to ensure their survival as well as prevent harassment of their mostly gay clientele and escape legal consequences themselves.
This article stated the Seattle police wanted to suppress the LBGT community, partially by removing liquor licenses at gay bars.
On September 20, 1971, John Singer, later known as Faygele ben Miriam, and fellow activist Paul Barwick applied for a marriage license at the King County Administration Building in Seattle,[5] not being keen on actually getting married but wanting "to make a point about having the same rights as heterosexuals.
On June 30, 1974, Gay Pride Week concluded with a "Gay-In" at the Seattle Center that featured "zany dress, general frivolity, carousing and a circle dance around the main International fountain."
Individual volunteers secured permits, assembled local Trans political speakers and performers of music, poetry, and standup comedy.
The MC, wearing a black fishnet bare midriff top and leather motorcycle jacket ripped the current edition of alternative newspaper The Stranger in half, deriding the cover story which provocatively asked if the Queer identity had, with social improvement, become obsolete.
The gathering of about 200 people took place on a rainy June day across the street from Seattle Central Community College on Broadway, atop the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Despite the general atmosphere of tolerance towards the LGBT community in Seattle, there have been instances of homophobic hate crimes, particularly in Capitol Hill and in open public spaces such as Volunteer Park.
A combination of effectiveness in anti-retroviral therapies and increase in use of intravenous drugs influenced a rise in sexually transmitted infections (STI).
The "watershed moment" occurred in 2003 when King County Public Health released a report saying that STI had increased in gay/bisexual men by 40% over the past year.
Life Long organizes services for people living with AIDS and is simultaneously active in the LGBT community by holding support groups and awareness events such as Gay Bingo.
Another key organization is the Dunshee House which was originally born from Seattle's first gay awareness group, the Dorian Society.