While the Pacific Center began as a switchboard for the Gay community, it eventually blossomed into a fully functioning mental health and resource center for all LGBT+ identified individuals. Many of the clients of the Pacific Center would likely have found them through alternative newspapers, magazines and newsletters just like this one below from EAST BAY COMMUNIQUE’.
The Berkeley Revolution
A digital archive of the East Bay's transformation in the late-1960s & 1970s
Community Services Listing
Date: 12/12/79
Citation:
"Community Services," EAST BAY COMMUNIQUE' Newsletter, circa. 1970's.
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1. From East Bay Gay to Pacific Center: Early Years (1973-76)
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East Bay Gay Day Festival
–6/17/73–Images of the queer festival held at Berkeley's Ho Chi Minh Park
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East Bay Gay Will Counsel Gays
–7/20/73–East Bay Gay expands service to include free counseling sessions
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Pacific Center Founders at Gay Freedom Day Parade
–6/30/74–Pacific Center founders Jim Green and Richard Boxer, in the year of the Center's establishment
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Bifurcate East Bay Gay Group
–8/9/74–A group of "users" of East Bay Gay spoke harshly of its "directorship"
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East Bay Gay Split ‘Not Real’
–8/30/1974–East Bay Gay was a social service agency, not a social club, said its director, in response to a controversy that threatened it
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East Bay Gay Opens New Center
–12/19/74–When East Bay Gay opened its brick-and-mortar Pacific Center, it signalled a new inclusiveness
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Gay Switchboard
–5/8/75–Pacific Center began with a Gay Switchboard that was pivotal for the queer community
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Same-Sex Choices
–1/15/76–Through its Sexual Minority Prisoner Program, Pacific Center reached out to queer people who were incarcerated
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Commendation from Alameda County
–3/76–An official commendation for the Pacific Center for mental health services.
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Dear Amazons: An Open Letter
–5/76–Shut out by the Berkeley Women's Center, a self-declared "separatist dyke" acknowledged Pacific Center's hospitality
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2. Serving and Celebrating the Community in Its Complexity (1976-1983)
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Dear Amazons: An Open Letter
–5/76–Shut out by the Berkeley Women's Center, a self-declared "separatist dyke" acknowledged Pacific Center's hospitality
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Lou Sullivan’s First Visit to Pacific Center
–7/27/76–Lou was disappointed to discover that a trans support group was "like a hippie crash pad scene"
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Lou Sullivan’s Second Visit to Pacific Center
–10/12/1976–Lou opened up at his second visit to a trans support group — and appreciated it more
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Lesbians of Color at 1977 SF Gay Freedom Day
–6/25/77–Lesbians of Color represent Pacific Center at 1977 SF Gay Freedom Day
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Pacific Center Women’s Calendar (For Women Only)
–4/78–A snapshot of Pacific Center's diverse range of programs -- and of its balancing act
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Pacific Center Is Moving To Telegraph
–1979–Pacific Center hoped to move in April 1979 from San Pablo Ave to a more capacious Victorian house on Telegraph
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Pacific Center Raps
–7/1979–Trans folks from as far as Sacramento and San Jose attended rap groups at Pacific Center
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Open House
–10/5/79–Cause for celebration: Pacific Center concluded its move to its current location on Telegraph Ave
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Gwen & Jerene Live at the Pacific Center
–11/13/79–Gwen & Jerene were booked by Lenn Keller to play at the San Pablo location of the Pacific Center
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Breakdown of Trans Surgery Costs
–1979–When a trans woman explored getting surgery, she also was directed to find community at Pacific Center
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Community Services Listing
–12/12/79–Community Services Listing featuring phone number for Pacific Center and Switchboard
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The Fourth Annual Halloween Dance
–10/29/83–A youth-oriented dance put on by the center for young gays and lesbians.
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Harvest Gathering: a Fall Musical Celebration
–9/22/84–A flyer for a musical event, headlined by a lesbian of color
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3. Fighting for Justice and Equality, Beyond the Queer Community and Within It (1976-1983)
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Same-Sex Choices
–1/15/76–Through its Sexual Minority Prisoner Program, Pacific Center reached out to queer people who were incarcerated
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Open Letter To CETA Commissioners and Berkeley City Council
–6/9/1977–Pacific Center's director skewered employment commissioners who had mocked him for being gay
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Bigotry Isn’t New to Me!
–6/25/77–A protester at 1977 SF Gay Freedom Day
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Flyer for Racism Workshop
–4/78–A call for discussion of racism within the lesbian community.
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Pacific Center Women’s Calendar (For Women Only)
–4/78–A snapshot of Pacific Center's diverse range of programs -- and of its balancing act
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School Board Drops Film on Homosexuals
–10/19/78–Pacific Center helped to get a homophobic film removed from school curricula
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West Coast Women’s Festival
–11/81–When a show of solidarity with Latin America failed in the presence of white privilege, activists repaired to Pacific Center
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Ollie’s
–6/83–Pacific Center acted as a mediator when a gay-friendly business was accused of classism and racism
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Who Is An Ally And Who Is An Enemy?
–12/1/83–Lesbians of Color came to Pacific Center to figure out how the movement might practice the solidarity it preached
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4. Fighting for Funding: Appealing to the United Way and Others (1974-1988)
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East Bay Gay Opens New Center
–12/19/74–When East Bay Gay opened its brick-and-mortar Pacific Center, it signalled a new inclusiveness
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Commendation from Alameda County
–3/76–An official commendation for the Pacific Center for mental health services.
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Open Letter To CETA Commissioners and Berkeley City Council
–6/9/1977–Pacific Center's director skewered employment commissioners who had mocked him for being gay
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Correspondence between Martin Paley, Gerald Leo and Carole Migden about United Way Funding
–11/17/1977–Pacific Center battled hard to obtain United Way funding
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United Way To Aid Gays
–9/1/1977–In a coup for Pacific Center and gay rights, United Way decided to support the center with a grant
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Money Troubles Force Closures At Gay Center
–1988–Pacific Center was stretched thin by the resources required to mount its multifaceted AIDS Project
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5. A Lifeline During the AIDS Epidemic (1981-1989)
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Pacific Center Campaign for Survival Shirt
–circa 1981–A shirt for the Pacific Center's 1981 Campaign for Survival
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Lesbian Support during AIDS Crisis
–Circa 1985–A flyer thanking the lesbian community for support of the male gay community
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We Can End AIDS Now!
–6/86–What numbers to call for AIDS resources in the East Bay
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Hot, Horny & Healthy
–5/15/87–A flyer for a workshop on safe sex.
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Money Troubles Force Closures At Gay Center
–1988–Pacific Center was stretched thin by the resources required to mount its multifaceted AIDS Project
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AIDS Support Group Survives a Crisis
–2/13/89–AIDS Project saved by community support
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