New LGBTQ Center - Gay Cy: Seattle's LGBTQ Center

Contents:

• GAY CY: SEATTLE’S LGBTQ CENTER TO SEARCH FOR NEW LEARSHIP
• THE NEW SEATTLE LGBTQ+ CENTER (GAY CY)IS OPEN AND READY FOR BS
• GAY CY FDS NEW HOME ON CAPOL HILL
• END OF AN ERA AS FRED SWANSON STEPS DOWN AS HEAD OF GAY CY
• ABOUT GAY CY
• SEATTLE GAY NEWS ARCHIV S PAST AND LOOKS TO THE FUTURE
• GAY CYPODST
• GAY CY UNPACKS…AND, ANNOUNCE NEW NAME: “SEATTLE’S LGBTQ+ CENTER”
• SEATTLE GAY NEWS CHARTS A PATH TO THE FUTURE AFTER ATH OF LONGTIME EDOR GEE BAKAN
• GAY CY CELEBRAT OVER 25 YEARS OF SERVG SEATTLE’S LGBTQ+ MUNY

GAY CY: SEATTLE’S LGBTQ CENTER TO SEARCH FOR NEW LEARSHIP

On Friday, Augt 4, 2023, hundreds of protters gathered at the 76 gas statn on Broadway on Capol Hill wh flowers and signs to mourn the btal murr of O'Shae Sibley, a Black Gay man stabbed to ath at a gas statn New York Cy.

Holzer said he knew he was gay sce age 4 and the queer culture and muny he grew up wh Seattle shaped his inty.

But Holzer’s experience exemplifi the challeng faced by many LGBTQ+ people Seattle, where the high st of livg and rapidly shiftg characteristics of “gayborhoods” like Capol Hill have bed to make livg the cy unsirable and often untenable, if not impossible. Natnally, The Washgton Post reported that 45% of gay bars closed sce 2002. Queer spac and muni provi a rpe om the daily grd of homophobia and transphobia and create a rare cril mass of safety to be yourself.

THE NEW SEATTLE LGBTQ+ CENTER (GAY CY)IS OPEN AND READY FOR BS

“It’s not the same thg anymore”Dpe what some media pictns might have thk, LGBTQ+ people are not all affluent, cisgenr, whe, gay men. In a 2014 story tled “Is Seattle’s ‘gayborhood’ vanishg?, ” Balk found that due to multiple factors cludg enomic forc like gentrifitn (as well as greater acceptance outsi the neighborhood), the number of LGBTQ+ uple hoeholds on Capol Hill dropped by 23% between 2000 and don’t regnize what Seattle has bee. He said gay bars like Pony changed their management, Capol Hill changed and many iends moved away.

I really didn’t do anythg [anymore] — gay, fun, drag, dancg, ” he a month ago, Holzer cid to pull up stak and move back to Billgs, Mont., where he lived before movg to Seattle as a Billgs, he said, “I haven’t been this happy a long time, to be hont. It’s not jt the hog that is more affordable but the food and gas are cheaper, are lots of pri flags flyg his neighborhood and he has a number of gay and lbian neighbors.

He experienced beg yelled at by “packs” of people rs and saw the number of gay spac cle on the the wir populatn began to bee more acceptg of LGBTQ+ people, he said, “we beme placent and didn’t protect our spac.

GAY CY FDS NEW HOME ON CAPOL HILL

In Am Ghaziani’s book “There Go the Gayborhood?

” he wr, “At the end of a long day, gayborhoods promise an parable sense of safety, a place where gays and lbians n seek refuge om ongog heterosexual hostili, hate crim, discrimatn, bigotry, and bias.

END OF AN ERA AS FRED SWANSON STEPS DOWN AS HEAD OF GAY CY

”After s of forward progrs, the new asslts on LGBTQ+ people through legislatn, hate crim and a shift backward our culture make the qutn of whether we need gayborhoods urgent also offers an opportuny to ask what we are losg, culturally, when only the most affluent people and well-rourced bs and anizatns n afford to live Holzer said of Seattle’s future, “I hope to God somebody gets together to protect some of those prec moments that uld still be there and jt don’t turn to jt this awful, rancid, empty, rporate [cy]. SEATTLE, WA (January 31, 2022) – Gay Cy’s Board of Directors announced Executive Director Fred Swanson is steppg down om his posn after more than two s.

Fred will rema volved wh the anizatn until June 1, 2022, and Bekah Telew, Gay Cy’s Director of Development, will serve as Interim Co-Executive Director durg the transn. “We have such talented and creative staff and volunteers and a learship team that unrstands what is necsary to ntue to move Gay Cy forward.

Unr Fred’s learship, Gay Cy’s programmg and impact expand signifintly. This growth clud assumg the programs of the Seattle Gay Clic 2004, ntug cril parts of Verbena’s work 2008, and assumg the programs of the Seattle LGBT Communy Center 2009.

ABOUT GAY CY

Gay Cy created new office spac to acmodate for the addnal service offergs, lnched Gay Cy Arts, created a Youth Advisory Council, implemented re equy trags for staff, and offered a home to queer anizatns Ingersoll Genr Center, Equal Rights Washgton, and Three Dollar Bill Cema. “Gay Cy has benefted tremendoly om Fred’s learship over his two s as Executive Director, ” said Ronn Arii, Gay Cy’s Board Co-Chair.

“He has steered this anizatn through challeng, great succs, unprecented growth, and has cemented Gay Cy’s posn as a val and tegral part of the LGBTQ muny Seattle and beyond. He leav a solid posn to move forward wh the evolutn of Gay Cy: Seattle’s LGBTQ Center.

Wh the challeng of the COVID-19 panmic and the news that the buildg Gay Cy has lled home sce 2006 had been sold, Fred worked wh the Board of Directors to fd a new home for Gay Cy. Gay Cy’s Board of Directors and staff learship will be workg through a 90-day transn plan and have formed a Learship Mol Task Force.

SEATTLE GAY NEWS ARCHIV S PAST AND LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

The Task Force will llaboratively explore the next eratn of Gay Cy’s learship. The 90-day transn plan and the work of the Task Force will culmate wh an announcement of the anizatn’s new learship mol, and Gay Cy will beg implementg next steps to brg this new mol to un.

“Gay Cy will always be part of my life, now and the future, ” said Swanson.

About Gay Cy: Seattle’s LGBTQ CenterWh more than 25 years of supportg and advotg for LGBTQ muni, Gay Cy provis a place for you to be thentilly yourself. For more rmatn, vis and @GayCy on Instagram and Facebook and @GayCySeattle on Twter. As the Edorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways wr, eds and do about a ln other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most vised LGBTQ news, arts and entertament webse now celebratg s 14th year as a media outlet.

GAY CYPODST

The “blueprt” for the new new Gay Cy — “Some of the excg featur clu:”Room 100 – Youth Space (middle)Room 106 – Communy Organizatn Partner TBA (middle bottom)Room 107 – Large Meetg Space/Rental Area (middle bottom)Room 121 & 122 – Pharmacy (upper right)Room 133 – Library wh new furnure (lower left). Gay Cy is sayg goodbye to Pike, hello to Pe (Image: Gay Cy).

There will be a Pri Place on Broadway — and a Gay Cy on E Pe. Gay Cy, the LGBTQ center servg Seattle for 26 years displaced om s E Pike lotn last year by planned velopment, is stayg on Capol Hill a new home that will allow the nonprof to ntue to expand s servic.

GAY CY UNPACKS…AND, ANNOUNCE NEW NAME: “SEATTLE’S LGBTQ+ CENTER”

“We’re tryg to really want to step further to who we are, ” Gay Cy’s Melv Givens tells CHS. Gay Cy’s new home on the ground floor of the Pe Bellevue office buildg at 400 E Pe will have room for an expand slate of servic and offergs at the center cludg a new pharmacy partnership wh Kelley-Ross. At the re of the facily, Givens said the new Gay Cy lotn will center around a new service add to s mix wh a new “Youth Space” the middle of the new center.

CHS reported here 2020 on Gay Cy’s closure durg the panmic and s need to move om s E Pike home to make way for planned revelopment of the block. “I’m surround by brilliant people at work who re a lot about LGBTQ folks, so I’m sure we’ll land somewhere great, ” Gay Cy director Fred Swanson said at the time. The old E Pike space (Image: CHS) (Image: Gay Cy).

Gay Cy formed out of the mid-1990s closure of the cy’s lone major LGBTQ muny center and has ntued to serve as a centerpot for queer muni across the cy as tim and needs have changed. In 2018, Gay Cy expand s library and ntued to make space for fellow LGBTQ nonprofs to share the space. After the challeng of the panmic and the move out of E Pike, Gay Cy hop to reopen s new space before the end of the year, Givens said.

SEATTLE GAY NEWS CHARTS A PATH TO THE FUTURE AFTER ATH OF LONGTIME EDOR GEE BAKAN

There will be a mpaign to help raise funds for the move and preparg the new space — cy perms dite a nstctn budget at more than $220, 000 — but, for now, you n donate directly to Gay Cy if you would like to help. There are also more rponsibili on the horizon and muny missns for Gay Cy to serve.

Gay Cy plans to open at 400 E Pe by “wter. Like Cher and Cockroach, we assumed FRED SWANSON would be around forever as the executive director of Gay Cy, the Seattle non-prof that has worn more hats than a Vegas showgirl.

Over the years, Gay Cy has served as a gay health clic, origally mostly for gay men but eventually expandg over the years and foced on sexual health issu cludg HIV/AIDS and STDs but on unselg and treatment for addictn issu. Gay Cy has also been a purely social anizatn producg many events for the muny over the years cludg Gay Cy 101 and lots of fun parti, though they’ve backed away om that recent years while also producg theater shows and events at the Calam Theater space at their former home on Pike Street.

GAY CY CELEBRAT OVER 25 YEARS OF SERVG SEATTLE’S LGBTQ+ MUNY

And, after the mise of the last versn of the Seattle LGBT Center 2009, Gay Cy took over many of their functns cludg the library and rource and referral programs. Gay Cy’s Board of Directors announced yterday that Swanson will step down om his duti as Executive Director on June 1, 2022. Bekah Telew, Gay Cy’s Director of Development, will serve as Interim Co-Executive Director durg the transn as the search begs for a new E.