Isis

Isis

Location: 1400 West 6th Street, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Opened: Unclear

Closed: 1989

Isis is yet another lesbian bar that, unfortunately, is probably best remembered for a violent crime against lesbians. Back in June 1982, two lesbians were abducted at gunpoint from a nearby parking lot. One woman, Mary Ann Finegan, was shot to death. The other, who prefers to remain unnamed, was raped, shot, and left for dead after witnessing Mary Ann's murder.

It would not be until 2010--28 long years later--that the killer was brought to justice.

Yet another reminder as to why we should suspect the motives of men who hang around womyn's spaces.

From Gay People's Chronicle:

Isis was a popular bar at 1400 West 6th Street near the corner of Frankfort Avenue, “for the contemporary woman,” according to a July, 1982 ad in the gay monthly High Gear. It was known to women in Cleveland and Akron, where Finegan lived with her four dogs in nearby Barberton. Isis closed in 1989, and the space has since been home to a variety of businesses, though none gay or lesbian. It is now Crop Bistro and Bar.

“Mary Ann and I had broken up the week before and had no plans to meet up with each other that night,” continued the survivor, now 66, who asked that her name not be printed.

“We got to the bar around 9:30 or 10 pm,” said the friend who joined her for dinner that evening, who also asked that her name be kept private. She has helped care for the survivor and been a companion to her for almost three decades, and remains protective of her. “It was a nice evening. We parked the car and sat in the parking lot talking for awhile.”

Later, the friends noticed Mary Ann’s pickup truck and saw her walk toward the bar. “I knew she was probably looking for me,” the survivor recalled. She left her purse in her friend’s car and went to talk to ‘Finy’ while her dinner companion went inside the bar.

“We all called Mary Ann ‘Finy,’ ” she noted.

The two walked to Finegan’s truck and got in. “Mary Ann was a great listener but she had a hard time expressing herself.” That night, she seemed kind of upset, like she needed to talk.

They talked for a while and Finegan started the truck to move to a parking spot closer to the bar, according to early police reports of the incident. Before she could park, a man suddenly opened the passenger door, put a gun against the survivor’s chest while climbing in and told Finegan to drive “or I’ll kill her.”