Years: 1968-1971

WILLAMETTE BRIDGE

Per Gay and lesbian rights movement (oregonencyclopedia.org) Gays first began organizing in Portland in early March 1970. They advertised their cause in the pages of The Willamette Bridge, a counter-culture newspaper that began in 1968 and carried news about Vietnam, the Black Panthers, Students for a Democratic Society, rock concerts, alternative lifestyles, and the environment.

Per Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Willamette_Bridge&oldid=1000980950

and  https://wikizero.com/index.php/en//Willamette_Bridge:

Willamette Bridge was an underground newspaper published in Portland, Oregon from June 7, 1968 to June 24, 1971. In the spring of 1968, several groups of people in Portland were discussing starting an "underground" newspaper in Portland, similar to the Los Angeles Free Press or the Berkeley Barb. They were partially motivated by a frustration with the reporting in the mainstream press, which was still supporting the Vietnam war, opposing progressive movements like the United Farmworkers Union, and showed no understanding at all of the growing "Counterculture" and its music, dress and mores. On the other hand, they saw many things going on in the city that were positive, but isolated- Antiwar activity at Reed College, "Hippies" gathering around Lair Hill park, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party gathering strength, craft stores and head shops opening around town, local bands like The Great Pumpkin and The Portland Zoo giving concerts. A newspaper could bring these groups together and break the information monopoly of the daily papers.

After a few meetings, three of these groups joined forces and the Willamette Bridge was born. The people who started The Bridge (as it came to be known) didn't think of themselves as just "journalists", per se- but rather, as communicators, community organizers. They saw their role as spreading the word about what was happening in the city and the world, and hoping that just spreading that information would help change the community.

The first issue of The Willamette Bridge carried this statement of purpose:

To provide a means by which Portland's various liberal groups can learn of each other's activities;

To be a bridge between these groups and the city officials, businessmen, parents and general citizenry;

To provide a platform from which controversial issues and topics can be discussed;

To print news that the mainstream press ignores, either by accident or by design;

To give another slant to news that we feel is being distorted.

And, hopefully, to establish more understanding among all of the peoples of the city.

It continued "...We feel that opinions are not and cannot be confined to the editorial page, so we will not attempt to appear objective about material we have definite feelings about."

"The Bridge" was a member of the Underground Press Syndicate and the Liberation News Service. Printed in a tabloid format with 10-15 underpaid general purpose employees (some had specialties, but everybody did everything) operating more or less collectively, The Bridge appeared every other Friday, then every Friday. By the summer of 1969 it was printing and selling 15,000 copies a week, making The Willamette Bridge one of Oregon's largest papers. It was organized by Editors and staffers included Michael Wells, Jimmy Beller and Maurice Isserman.

The Bridge was the forum where Portland's emerging Women's, Gay Rights and Environmental movements found a voice and reached the public. It had connections to the Black Panthers, Draft Resistance groups and other radical organizations. On the other hand, the Bridge advocated for saving The Old Church and converting a downtown parking lot into a park, which was realized in 1984 as Pioneer Courthouse Square

Michael Wells, the paper's founder and main editor, left in 1970, and it was taken over by a collective from members of Reed College SDS and its spinoff, the Portland Revolutionary Youth Movement collective. which put a greater emphasis on what they saw as radical politics. The paper shut down a year later. After the "Bridge" ended its run as Portland's local underground paper in 1971 it was succeeded by the Portland Scribe.

citations & references:

https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/gay_lesbian_rights_movement/

Per Willamette Bridge (Portland, Or.) 1968-1971 [Microfilm Reel] | Library of Congress (loc.gov) https://www.loc.gov/item/2003252914/

How a Classified Ad in an Underground Newspaper Ignited Portland’s LGBTQ Rights Movement (wweek.com) https://www.wweek.com/culture/2019/06/12/how-a-classified-ad-in-an-underground-newspaper-ignited-portlands-lgbtq-rights-movement/

How a Classified Ad in an Underground Newspaper Ignited Portland’s LGBTQ Rights Movement

“Gay, longhair, young, lonely, seeks meaningful relationship with same,” read the submission to the Willamette Bridge.

Below - a photo of the article published.

Per GLPAN website: The underground press of the 1960s

In the late 1960s, ally activist Michael Wells and a few others launched a Portland progressive newspaper called the Willamette Bridge. According to Wells, this and other similar “underground” newspapers could only be published because production costs were lowered enormously through a process called photo offset printing.

The Bridge, as it was often called, gave a voice to issues such as the opposition to racism and the Vietnam War, while also supporting workers’ rights. As time progressed, the Bridge also advocated for feminist, gay, and environmental issues. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Bridge )

2. A newspaper gives birth to a movement

In February of 1970, a young man attempted to place a classified ad in that newspaper. The proposed ad read: “Gay, longhair, young, lonely, seeks meaningful relationship with same. Answer with ad in the Bridge."

The newspaper refused the ad, just as it rejected any ad it felt was sexual, regardless of sexual orientation. But a 21-year-old openly gay staff member named John Wilkinson disagreed with their decision. John chose to respond to the young man with a letter in the newspaper. He suggested that what was really needed was for gay people to get to know each other in a less secretive, more open way. He proposed the formation of something like the Gay Liberation Front that had recently been organized in other American cities.

The fact that any Oregonian would state in the mass media that they were gay was quite courageous at that time. It struck a chord with numerous people who knew they were gay, but had never met other gay people, and who were overwhelmed by society’s anti-gay attitudes.

The positive response John received prompted him to call gay community meetings through announcements in the Bridge. Joining him soon was Dave Davenport, who John met at the second meeting and who became his life partner (and decades later his husband.) Early in this process, Bridge staff member Holly Hart, who had been writing feminist articles, came out as a lesbian. She called upon her women’s movement and other organizing experience to help advance Portland’s fledgling gay movement. With that, the Portland Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was born. It was the first gay politically oriented organization in Oregon.

It is significant that our movement in Oregon was started by a newspaper. Up until that time, it was very difficult to find literature that was positive about homosexuality. Gay men and lesbians had no easy way of knowing other people who shared their sexual orientation. Portland had numerous gay bars, but they did not advertise as gay so it was not easy for those wanting to come out to locate them. At that time, homosexuality was so demonized, that many gay men and lesbians were afraid to discuss their sexual orientation even with their best friends. Oregon was still one of 49 states whose laws criminalized homosexual conduct. Only an instrument of mass communication could bring people together.

So when the Willamette Bridge began publishing numerous positive articles about gay people, by local out gay people, it was quite a change. Holly wrote some articles under her own name and others under female pen names. She was concerned that other lesbians would not participate if they thought that only one woman was involved in the movement.

In the summer of 1970, GLF meetings were held weekly at Centenary-Wilbur Methodist Church in Southeast Portland. The place, address, time, and date were published in the Bridge which by that time had a huge readership. One night a week was dedicated to gay men, while another was for lesbians. This atmosphere allowed gays to meet other gays to discuss their lives. Also published in the Bridge were phone numbers where those coming out could speak to others who already had. A speakers’ system was created so that groups could invite gay men and lesbians to talk to them about their lifestyles. (http://www.glapn.org/6130nicolagaymovement.html)