Anna Schlecht

The Launch of the Columbia Street Food Co-op – By Anna Schlecht and Beth Hartmann

by

In 1977, the brand new storefront Co-op was coming together, the result of volunteers building shelves, plugging in coolers, and setting out the food. Over the years, the migrating co-ops had gone through numerous incarnations. Finally, the Columbia Street Food Co-op emerged in its current form, built on an organizational foundation that would last into the future. We were both part of the launch of this community cornerstone.

Going to the Left Coast – By Anna Schlecht

by

Without consciously knowing it, I had moved two thousand miles away from my family to come out—it was other gay people I was looking for. Once I admitted that to myself, it seemed like Olympia was crawling with lesbians. In my daily flight path of looking for work and trying to meet people, I often circled by Laura’s store downtown, the Rainbow Grocery. I have no idea how she identified, but her store sure seemed to draw a lot of lesbians. They all seemed so much older and wiser, as everyone older than nineteen seems to an eighteen-year-old.

Gay Nights at the Conestoga! – By Anna Schlecht and Alexis Jetter

by

After a few minutes, though, the tone changed, and the music stopped. The owner, who was at the club that night, cut us off from the bar and ordered us to leave, telling us that we’d be arrested if we returned. We were shocked—as were several people at the bar, who looked at us with a mixture of curiosity and discomfort. We refused to budge from the dance floor and demanded an explanation. The owner said he had the right to refuse service to anyone he pleased. “If you let certain types or elements, take over a place,” he later told the Daily Olympian, “you’re going to be hurting.”