The Seattle Gay News is a weekly newspaper aimed at the Seattle and Puget Sound area LGBT community in the U.S. state of Washington . As of 2023, the SGN is distributed to every library in the King County Library System , Seattle Public Library System, and Pierce County Library System , as well as roughly 115 other locations in Seattle, Tacoma , Bellingham, Spokane and Ocean Shores.
7-507: The newspaper was founded in 1974 by Jim Tully and Jim Arnold. Editor George Bakan , an LGBTQ+ activist in Seattle, acted as head of the SGN from 1984 until his death from a sudden heart attack in 2020. His daughter Angela Cragin then took over his role at the paper. In 2021, staff began restructuring the paper to improve its diversity and inclusivity. In the same year, SGN launched a podcast as part of
14-737: The Seattle Public Library (Central Library) and the Stonewall National Museum, Archive and Library in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Microfiche copies of the archives can be found at UW and the Seattle Public Library. The Washington State Library in partnership with the Suzzallo Library and the SGN digitized the SGN's archive from 1974 through 2020 (although only in black & white). Additionally, every issue of
21-539: The SGN was scanned in full color and uploaded to Issuu . George Bakan George Bakan was an American organizer for LGBT movements and the editor-in-chief of Seattle Gay News . He died in 2020 at age 78. Rudolph George Bakan was born in Seattle , Washington . He grew up in rural Bellevue , then moved with his family to Pasco, Washington around 1960. He attended Columbia Basin College in fall 1960 where he
28-526: The restructuring effort. In 2023, Cragin sold the publication to Stratus Group LLC, owned by Mike Schultz. A year later he sold SGN to Prism Pride Press, owned by Renee Raketty. SGN files are preserved in the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma. The SGN is archived at Yale University (Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library), University of Washington (Suzzallo Library) in Seattle,
35-401: The time when it was not certain that everyone would do activism together. In 2013 Neighbors bar held a party in honor of Bakan's activism. Bakan died at his desk surrounded by Seattle Gay News issues. Bakan had arranged that his daughter Angela Cragin take over role as owner and publisher of Seattle Gay News , which she did. At his memorial Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan described him
42-581: Was an organizer of Seattle Pride , an HIV/AIDS activist, and an advocate for LGBT retirement home availability. He was a regional coordinator for the 1987 Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights and the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation . With Marsha C. Botzer of the Ingersoll Gender Center , Bakan was an advocate for including bisexual and transgender people in LGBT activism, during
49-491: Was president of the Columbia Basin Young Democrats. Bakan was the editor of Seattle Gay News from 1983 until his death in 2020. Speaking of Bakan's death, former Seattle City Council member Tom Rasmussen said that Bakan may have been Seattle's most influential advocate for LGBT rights. noted Bakan's activities in favor of women’s rights , addressing Homelessness , and Prisoners' rights . Bakan
#164835