Gay People's Center, upstairs around 306 E State Street, 1970s

The Gay People’s Center was in an upstairs office above a candy store, near what is now Viva Taqueria. The Center had a crisis phone line, meeting spaces available, and held occasional socials. Several elders recall the Gay People’s Center as primarily by and for LGBTQ local residents ("townies"), while both Ithaca College and Cornell had their own distinct and usually separate LGBTQ communities at that time.

Retired Ithaca College professor Marty Brownstein recalls “There was a flourishing lesbian and gay life at that time, but it was closeted. There was a very courageous community of LGBTQ students on campus and in the community that supported each other."