“People were coming in to experience what the gay bars were all about as a community, the type of music they enjoyed, the culture. “It was the beginning of more openness, for both gay and straight folks, and diversity,” says Schläger, who remembers how younger customers would bring in their straight friends in hopes of amplifying their support network during the AIDS crisis of the ’80s and ’90s. A carnival themed bar in Capitol Hill, Unicorn attracts many to the neighborhood for its whimsical drinks and food, arcade games like pinball, trivia and karaoke nights, weekly drag brunches called ‘Mimosas with Mama,’ and, of course, for the opportunity to wear the famous unicorn horn/helmet while downing a magical drink. While clubs still had to consistently pay off law enforcement to keep their doors open and their patrons safe, this bubble was ready to burst.Īnd it did. The queer community found tolerance amid spaces that were comfortable, says Schläger. Police made one arrest and Seattle Fire medics were declined after a melee outside Capitol Hill’s Queer/Bar early Sunday morning ended in a cloud of pepper spray and a busted loudspeaker. Niche spots on the Hill created a sort of “gay bubble,” as Neighbours Nightclub disc jockey and LGBTQ+ history aficionado Randy Schläger likes to call it. Pioneer Square walked so Capitol Hill could run.
Before there was the fetish-friendly Cuff Complex or drag-heavy R Place-both of which opened on Capitol Hill, the former in the late ’80s and the latter in the early ’90s-Pioneer Square had the Casino, a same-sex speakeasy dancehall, and the South End Steam Baths too.
