Gay bars in la crosse
Gay Bars and Straight Chicks
I meant to post this last week, but a nasty stomach flu knocked me out of move for several days. On to the blog…
On my last visit to La Crosse (Wisconsin), I went to a bar called Players with a couple of long-time friends. Players is neither flashy nor unpleasant, sort of a working class gay prevent. During the three hours that we were there, three separate groups of straight women came in, possibly to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day—who doesn’t travel to their neighborhood same-sex attracted bar to feel a little Irish? Most of the women were wearing glow necklaces and earrings that flashed on and off, apparel that no self-respecting gay man would ever wear to a gay bar, even for St. Patrick’s Day.
I locate this spectacle confusing and rather unsettling, honestly. After all, I remember when gay bars were so stigmatized that even male lover men were ashamed to go there. There was usually no sign, no windows, you entered through the back door (no matter how many ways I tried to document that point it sounded dirty), and the interior was smoky and dimly lit.
What a contrast. The bar today has windows, a rainbow sticker nearby the bar’s name, and a front door. It’s still dimly lit a
We have limited information about Michael's bar in La Crosse. A contributor has shared to the Facebook group that Michaels' was the first gay block opened in La Crosse by Michael Hanson. He relates the following information:
In 1966, La Crosse's gays and lesbians became more visible to non-queers thanks to the first lgbtq+ bar, "Michael's" which operated until 1969 on Third Street South, between King Street and Jay Road. It was a mixed lesbian and gay block and was a godsend for community members who would otherwise have to travel to the Twin Cities or Madison.
Its owner, Michael, opened other queer bars: first "The Red Lion" on 120 Third Street, which he operated from 1970 to 1976 and primarily attracted working-class women and college students. Hanson then sold the property to two other gay men, who kept it a gay and lesbian bar from 1976 to 1981.
Hanson invested in a third property, "Mother's", which he ran from 1978 until 1982. "Mother's" was a small but popular joint, and on Saturday nights its boogie floor accommodated sweaty crowds of nearly 100 who danced to disco melody. It was located on 223 Pearl Street, around the corner from "The Red Lion."
Throughout the
Transcript
Location: Corner of 2nd St. North and Main St.
I came to La Crosse in the year 2000 in the spring to interview and I realized in the process of my interview that this was a very great place for me because there were a lot of “out” gay faculty and administrators. At that point there were three gay bars, there was also a lesbian exclude. The bar that we most often went to was then called “Players.” “Players” then was across the street from the big U.S. Bank building downtown. So we would park in there and then we would all lock our cars and then we’d walk as a group into the elevator and as a group come out and march across the avenue and be in the bar.
I think that we used to do that because I think we felt safe. It was a time when I think a lot of society was already expose, but we had heard about stories of men being beat or existence harassed by college students or by women. For a long time there were groups of linear women, college age linear women, who would reach to the gay lock just to look, glimpse who was gay, who was out, who wasn’t. So I think a lot of that scared a lot of the college men from coming out to the bars at least earlier in the day when these gradually get
We have limited information about Mother's bar in La Crosse. A contributor has shared to the Facebook group that it was one of three male lover bars opened in La Crosse by Michael Hanson. According to this contributor, the bar was a small but popular combined, and on Saturday nights its dance floor accommodated sweaty crowds of nearly 100 who danced to disco music. It was located on 223 Pearl Street, around the corner from "The Red Lion.".
The contributor further relates the following information:
In 1966, La Crosse’s gays and lesbians became more visible to non-queers thanks to the first gay bar, "Michael's" which operated until 1969 on Third Street South, between King Street and Jay Street. It was a mixed lesbian and gay bar and was a godsend for collective members who would otherwise have to travel to the Twin Cities or Madison.
Its owner, Michael, opened other gay bars: first "The Red Lion" on 120 Third Street, which he operated from 1970 to 1976 and primarily attracted working-class women and college students. Hanson then sold the property to two other gay men, who kept it a gay and lesbian exclude from 1976 to 1981.
Hanson invested in a third property, "Mother's", wh
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