LYNNWOOD—I read an article in the University of Washington alumni magazine, and it mentioned Lynnwood in a way I had never heard before. The article was about Bobbi Campbell, a 1974 graduate of the University of Washington who appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine in 1983 as the face of Gay America in the midst of the AIDS Epidemic.
In the article there was a brief mention about what happened in Lynnwood to one of Bobbi Campbell’s friends. After a little research I found more details about this incident in Lynnwood. It was actually a turning point for the Gay Rights movement in the Northwest.
Gary Atkin’s book titled Gay Seattle published by the University of Washington press describes in more detail what happened.
“In 1974, two members of Seattle’s Gay Liberation Front, Robert Perry and Carl Harder, drove up to Lynnwood and went into the old roller skate rink. When the ‘couples only’ skate time began, the two men casually skated onto the rink together holding hands. Told to stop, they refused.
“The rink’s management called the police, who forced them off the rink, handcuffed them and took them away to be booked for disorderly conduct. A judge later released them without bail and the charges were dropped.
“A week later, twenty gay men were back at the rink for another protest. This time several of them dressed in drag and joined the others to skate as mixed couples, challenging the rink’s management to find a way to prove if the women were really not women.”
And as the author notes, as far as the Seattle Gay Liberation Front was concerned, from that point forward, THE TIME FOR DISCRETION HAD ENDED.
Gay voices would no longer be silent. And the Gay Rights movement in the northwest took off.
Who knew that it was a protest at a Lynnwood skate rink that launched the Gay Rights movement in our region to another level? And 50 years later, in Lynnwood, on Saturday the first event of Lynnwood Pride was celebrated during Pride month.
That event in 1974 has a direct link to the Pride event held at the Event Center on Saturday. This is why history can be so fascinating, you think you know what Lynnwood’s past is all about and then you learn something new.
It makes you wonder, what else do I need to know about Lynnwood’s past?
George Hurst
Lynnwood City Council President
George Hurst was born in Seattle but grew up in New York on Long Island. He has lived in Lynnwood for 27 years with his wife and four children. All four are graduates of Lynnwood High School (when it was still in Lynnwood).
Hurst has a BA in history/political science from the University of Washington and a MA in American History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
He was first elected to the City Council in 2015 and in 2023 his fellow Council Members elected him as Council President.
DISCLAIMER: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not those of the Lynnwood City Council nor Lynnwood City Government.
