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However, this wasn’t always the case – police and unfriendly straight people often harassed patrons nonetheless. By paying off police officers, bar owners could ensure that their patrons would be left alone. In addition to the restrictive blue laws, many gay bars-including the 611-were also part of the police payoff system. Like most bars in Seattle both gay and straight alike, it was subject to the “blue laws” preventing activities ranging from patrons holding drinks while standing up, or the number of chairs at the bar. The décor was designed to provide maximum visibility for patrons - including mirrors on the wall.
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The interior of the 611 was very conscious about serving a gay clientele. MacIver Wells opened the 611 Tavern just before the 1962 World’s Fair to capitalize on the flood of tourists that washed through Seattle. The Seattle Counseling Services for Sexual Minorities, established in 1969, was the first gay-run counseling service for gays in the country.ĭuring this period there were other indicators of increased visibility.
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Robert Deisher in establishing Seattle Counseling Services for Sexual Minorities. In addition to traditional educational efforts such as a newsletter, the Dorian Society had a speakers bureau to speak in Seattle public schools, appeared on radio programs, led tours of gay bars for a program called Urban Plunge, and hosted drag balls. The Dorian Society was Seattle’s early homophile organization, as most gay groups were called during this era. The Queen City Business Guild, an organization of bar owners that would eventually become today’s Greater Seattle Business Association, as well as the United Ebony Council, a black gay male organization founded in 1975, and part of the Court of Seattle with its empresses and royalty, both used the Mocambo for early organizational meetings.Īnother important organization that met regularly at the Mocambo during the late 1960s was the Dorian Society. The Mocambo, open from 1951 to 1978, served a vital role as a meeting place for early gay organizations. Like many of the bars and taverns in Pioneer Square, the Mocambo Restaurant and Lounge was far more than just a lounge.