city with more than 1% of the households being lesbian couples. In 2013, Seattle overtook San Francisco as the United States city with the most households composed of gay or lesbian couples (2.6%), and was the only U.S. Seattle's gay shopping and recreation area is centered on Capitol Hill with bars, bookstores and other venues. Seattle had gay-friendly clubs and bars since the 1930s including The Casino in Underground Seattle at Pioneer Square which allowed same-sex dancing since 1930, and upstairs from it, The Double Header, in continuous operation since 1933 or 1934 until 2015, was thought to be the oldest gay bar in the United States.
Most people in the LGBTQIA+ community considered bars a better safe space than most of our own personal residences, Bradshaw said. Gay cabaret traveled in a circuit including Seattle and San Francisco since the 1930s. Bradshaw, who was crowned Miss Gay Seattle and Miss Gay Washington 2018, said that the state-mandated closures of gay spaces in the neighborhood have severely affected the community’s mental health. Seattle's LGBT culture has been celebrated at Gay Pride Week which began in 1977. Seattle has a notably large LGBT community, and the city of Seattle has protected gay and lesbian workers since the passage of the Fair Employment Practice Ordinance in 1973.
