Lesbian bars in Milwaukee

Bet-Z Boenning at Walker's Pint

Lesbian Bars in Milwaukee

We're down to one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Where have all the lesbian bars gone?

By Molly Snyder

Senior Writer

Published Aug. 14, 2015 at 3:03 p.m.

Milwaukee was never a hotbed of lesbian bars, but from the '70s until recently there were always at least a few in operation at the same time, including the Beer Garden, Fannie's, Kathy's Nut Hut, Mona's, Barbie Dolls and Dish.

Now, Walker's Pint, 818 S. 2nd St., is believed to be the only women's bar left in the city – although there are unconfirmed rumors that there's one quietly operating on Milwaukee's North Side. Art Bar and Hybrid are "straight friendly," gay-ish bars that don't cater specifically to lesbians or gay men.

The disappearance of lesbian bars is not only happening in Milwaukee. Even cities with a high number of LGBTQ ladies like San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago and New York have closed the doors to most – if not all – of their women's bars due to lack of funds and low turnout.

The most recent impactful closing took place earlier this year when The Lex in San Francisco shut down after 18 years of business. In 2013, West Hollywood – where almost half of the residents are lesbians – shuttered its last women's bar, The Palms, after 43 years.

What's happening to the American lesbian bar? Do gay women not need girls-only entertainment spaces anymore? Has the country become so accepting of lesbians that they no longer need their own bars?

Bet-z Boenning, who worked as a bartender at Dish in the '90s, opened Walker's Pint in 2001. Although she agrees there is now more acceptance of gay women in Milwaukee, the city still has a long way to go.

"We don't have to go to dark bars and hide anymore, but that's not to say that women don't need safe spaces anymore, because we do. There is always the risk of getting picked on, made fun of or worse when you're a lesbian and it still happens a lot," she says.

Read the rest here. 

Kathy's Nut Hut

Kathy's Nut House logo (around 1995)

Kathy's Nut Hut

Location: 1500 West Scott Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Opened: 1982 (also reported as 1980)

Closed: February 2014

From OnMilwaukee.com:

 

 

Nut Hut is closed

Dawn Musbach, most recent
owner of Nut Hut 

By Molly Snyder
Published Feb. 27, 2014 1:34 p.m.

In 2011, my friend Dave Mikolajek – you might know him as "College Dave" – introduced me to Kathy’s Nut Hut (usually referred to as simply "Nut Hut"), 1500 W. Scott St.

It had already been around for more than two decades and I was eager to tell the story of this wonderful neighborhood LGBT bar.

Dave told me today that the Nut Hut is closed. The owners, supposedly, sold the bar to a new owner. At this point, not much else is known.

The original owner, Kathy Krau, sold the business a few years ago to friend and Nut Hut bartender, Michelle Murphy, who ran the business with her partner, Dawn Musbach.

The first three paragraphs of the piece I wrote in 2011 sum up the place quite well, I think.

Kathy Krau did not intend to open a lesbian bar when she opened Kathy's Nut Hut, 1500 W. Scott St., in 1982. She says she thought she was opening primarily a "straight" bar, especially since she inherited the mostly heterosexual neighborhood clientele from the previous bar.

But it didn't take long for gay women, particularly those involved on softball and pool teams, to find the place. Word traveled fast through the lesbian community that Krau, who is gay, opened a comfortable, affordable tavern.

What happened next is almost idyllic. The old-school clientele, members of the LGBT community and young, new guys from the neighborhood started hanging out in the same space. And they interacted. And they got along.

I am sorry to see the Nut Hut go. It was another example of Milwaukee’s ability to practice tolerance and acceptance. I hope to report more on Nut Hut – and what will become of the space – when the information becomes available.

Here's more from the earlier article referenced above:

Nut House interior (2012)

The secret to Nut Hut's three-decade-long success, she [Dawn Musbach] says, is the diversity, the tradition and the prices. Pints of beer are $2 and bottles, including imports, are $3. They have nightly specials, like Tipsy Tuesday, offering up $5 pitchers and $2 shots of Jack Daniels and 2-4-1 Thirsty Thursdays.

Plus, they often serve food during baseball and football games, and not just the typical crock pot of chili. During a recent Packers game they had Indian tacos. Whenever there are leftovers, a woman from across the street comes over and delivers the food to neighborhood people and shelters.

"Whether people knew us as Kathy's or Nut Hut, they know that we're good people and our prices are cheap," says Musbach.

Nut Hut has continued the softball tradition and still has teams today. They also have dart leagues, a pool table, video games (including Ms. Pac Man) and, up until recently, karaoke. Bruce Tabora, a dear friend of the owners who passed away last summer, hosted the karaoke nights and Musbach says it hasn't felt right to bring back the event just yet.

2011 brought a lot of loss into Murphy's and Musbach's lives, which was the main reason why they did not participate in the Pride Parade last June, even though they had created a float almost every year prior and won multiple trophies.

There is a large collage of photos of Tabora hanging on the wall of the bar, not far from another cluster of photos memorializing other employees and friends who have passed away. Over the years, they have had many raffles to raise money for ill employees and customers or their families.

"If somebody needs someone, we step up to the plate," says Musbach.

Musbach says she and Murphy, who have been together for six years, have traveled to many other cities, and are yet to find a bar with the same vibe as Nut Hut. Despite the hardships, which include a challenging economy, they know they have something pretty special.

"We have it really good here. People are really accepting," she says. "There's been no trouble here. None."

Here's the account from History of Gay & Lesbian Life, Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

Kathy's Nut Hut

Kathy's Nut Hut, widely known as The Nut Hut, was opened approximately 1980 by (who else) Kathy. Long quasi-gay (with a wide lesbian clientele), the bar "officially" was pronounced by the owner as a lesbian/ gay bar late in 1992, when it began advertising in In Step. (IS SO 9-25)

Kathy owned the bar for about 22 years, until selling it to Michelle in about 2002. Michelle continued to operate the bar, known simply as The Nut Hut, as an openly lesbian/gay bar, with a sizeable regular clientele and good relations in the neighborhood. The bar closed in February 2014.

Customer reviews were mixed--as they invariably are. At yelp, there was at least one patron who complained of crime at the Nut Hut:

People get robbed, held at gun point, food sucks, pool table is pretty much unavailable all night, patrons fight ALL the time, no security in a high crime neighborhood.

So, if you can deal with the chance that you will get robbed and nobody cares enough to help you or call the cops, it is worth the cheap drink. However, I'd keep my visit during daylight hours and pretty short.

But over at FourSquare, the reviews were pretty positive. One example:

It's just like "cheers" good times, great place, great lady

Tori N. · June 13, 2010

Oshkosh Old Ladies Home

Old Ladies Home - Oshkosh

Old Ladies Home

Location: 1628 North Main Street, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA

Opened: August 20, 1902

Closed: 1974

Like similar initiatives during the 19th century, the Old Ladies Home in Oshkosh came about because middle-class women banded together to create charitable institutions to help women, children, and the poor.

Derived from the Ladies Benevolent Society website (unbelievably, they still exist!):

In 1863 a group of prominent Oshkosh women formed the Ladies Aid Society and rolled bandages from old sheets and table linens to assist in the Civil War. In 1865 the name was changed to the Ladies Benevolent Society.

In 1902 the Society built a home at 1628 North Main Street in which they cared for older women. 

By 1974, however, government regulations and the health of the women made it too expensive for LBS to keep “The Home” open. There were 10 women living there at that time. Evergreen Retirement Community agreed to take the women in and care for them until they died. Nine of them moved to Evergreen; one died before the move. 

The home was later sold to the Winnebago County Association for Retarded Citizens. In June 1992, the house became Centennial Inn, a home for seniors.

So the place came full circle--but this time they admitted men. 

Haven't found out a lot about life at "the Home." But we see here that the Oshkosh chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) "furnished the Christmas dinner and entertainment" for the ladies in 1917. This included "music, readings, Christmas tree, and a gift of one handkerchief and $1 for each lady--20 in number."

For some reason, all that sounds rather depressing....

Fannies

Fannies

Location: 200 East Washington Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Opened: November 1982

Closed: Around 2002?

From Don Schwamb, at the History of Gay and Lesbian Life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

Pulse Bar (2004)

Fannies was opened as a lesbian bar in November 1982 by Sharon Dixon (who had previously been a business partner in at least one other lesbian bar, the Sugar Shack).

Fannies is best known for its colorful and checkered history. Extremely popular with the lesbian crowd for many years, there were a few accidents and fires and a great deal of speculation about whether the owner was involved in one or more of them. The bar was closed several times for renovation after fires or other reasons, and on one occasion the owner was in jail far suspected arson.

In the early 2000's Fannies became more a mixed lesbian/gay bar, and in 2003 was renamed Pulse.

Sugar Shack

Sugar Shack advertisement (July 1976)

Sugar Shack

Location: 135 East National Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Opened: June 1976

Closed:  Around 1985

From Don Schwamb, at the History of Gay and Lesbian Life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:


The Sugar Shack was opened in June, 1976 by JoAnn Kilsdonk, with business partner Sharon Dixon (who later opened Fannies).

Advertisements for The Sugar Shack (which first appeared in the July 1976 issue of the GPU News) advertised it as "A bar by and for women".

Cory Scott, the son of the owner, recalls working there as a boy, and attending Brewers games tailgate parties co-sponsored by Sugar Shack and The M&M Club (which opened within weeks of Sugar Shack).

The August 1976 issue of the local "GLIB Guide" describes the business as follows: "Women, women, women! And lots of room to mingle. By and for gay women."

The Sugar Shack was sold around 1985 to Dotie, who for a time reopened it as a lesbian bar named D.K.'s Tavern. But that was not to be; the business was sold once more in late 1987 to Al Thomas, who eventually reopened it as a men's gay bar, The Triangle, which was to survive at least 20 years

D.K.'s Tavern

D.K.'s Tavern advertisement (February 1988)

D.K.'s Tavern

Location: 135 East National Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Opened: Around 1984

Closed: June 1988

By Don Schwamb, at the History of Gay and Lesbian Life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:


D.K.'s Tavern in Milwaukee was owned by Dotie, and for some years continued to be Milwaukee's premier lesbian bar, with a very popular following. (Since 1976 this same building had been the site of the Sugar Shack, also a very popular lesbian bar.) But business had been lagging, and in 1987 the business and building were put up for sale. On December 5, 1987, Dotie held a farewell party for customers and staff.

135 East National Avenue today--A Cardtronics ATM

On the very next night, the bar re-opened, and new owner Alan Thomas (formerly a resident of Kenosha who had bought the business and moved up to Milwaukee) declared it was "still a women's bar" and would retain the same staff and name. But within a few months business had shown that a change was needed; Al renamed the business The Triangle in June 1988 and reopened as a gay bar.

This transition from lesbian space to gay male space is extremely common among bars, particularly when the bar is no longer lesbian-owned or operated. The Triangle closed in April 2012. And now the location just spits out cash. Make of that what you will....

Women's Transit Authority (WTA)



Women's Transit Authority van

Women's Transit Authority (WTA)

Location: 1274 South Park Street, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Founded: 1973

Closed: January 20, 2006

As the noted feminist urban planner, Delores Hayden, has observed, "if most citizens, including politicians and police officers, believe that a woman's place is in the home to begin with, they will not be necessarily concerned about unsafe streets. Instead, they may blame the victim for being in urban public space. Good public transportation is a key factor in rape prevention."  

It was from this kind of feminist perspective that Women's Transit Authority (WTA) began in 1973 as a free nighttime rape prevention service for women. Essentially, women students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were fed up over their lack of safe access to the library and other community facilities, especially after a series of violent sexual assaults in 1972. The solution they came up with simple: "Some of us have cars, so let's share those resources with other women who don't and give each other rides."

WTA was soon providing rides for 1,000 women a month in just its first year of operations. As Hayden explains,

They operated two cars, seven nights a week, on a fixed-route shuttle service plus a flexible service within a four-mile radius of the University of Wisconsin campus. Volunteers drove, the university, city, and county paid the costs of the vehicles.  

It's important to note, however, that WTA began as an all-volunteer effort--run by women for women. In the beginning, volunteers literally used their own cars. It took several months of operations before the University offered the group the use of cars, radios, gas, and insurance.  

The pioneering WTA program attracted national attention--it was mentioned in Time Magazine in April 1973--and went on to inspire similar initiatives at Washington State University  in 1977, the University of Michigan in 1979, and elsewhere.  

It was not until 1978, however, that the City of Madison provided WTA with funding. So it was a full five years into the program before WTA was able hire three part-time coordinators and rent space for a daytime office off-campus. At this point, WTA also expanded from a University-based service to a citywide service.

Through all these changes, WTA defined itself as an explicitly feminist enterprise. As the bylaws stated,

Women's Transit Authority is a feminist organization and holds the principle that women working together will increase the strength of women in the community. Women's Transit Authority provides an opportunity for women to increase their strength by providing women with safe, independent transportation to reduce physical and mental vulnerability to sexual assault, and by consciously and actively defining and organizing against the constant atmosphere that condones violence against women.

By the mid 1980s, these three part-time coordinators were working with approximately 130 to 150 volunteer dispatchers and drivers, and providing over 80 rides per night.

Of course, with the rise of the right-wing/men's rights backlash, it was nearly inevitable that men would attack (and attempt to destroy) the service as "discriminatory." What this really involved was a coopting of the language of liberalism to undermine a progressive pro-woman initiative. (And needless to say, when the attacks started flying, none of these men expressed any particular concern about the "discriminatory" public safety and mobility issues that women and children faced in moving through the streets of the community.) As Diane Kravetz reports,

In 1992, the University of Wisconsin-Madison cut off all funding for Women's Transit Authority because it provided rides only for women by women: "WTA flatly refuses to give men rides or to hire [sic] men as drivers or dispatchers. UW lawyers believe that the university, as a publicly financed institution, simply cannot support an organization that publicly discriminates against men" (Madison Newspapers, 5/8/1992). This was no small matter in that the university provided approximately 40% of its funding. Women's Transit Authority survived with funding from the city, employee payroll-deduction campaigns, fund-raising events, and private donations. Its ability to maintain a sufficient level of funding without the support of the university confirms the confidence that members expressed in the mid-1980s with respect to the strength of their organization.

Through the 1990s, the service managed to largely carry on as before. In fact, the mission continued to expand beyond a simple night-time free ride service. Again, according to Kravetz,

Women's Transit Authority continues as a volunteer program for women by women that offers free nighttime rape-prevention rides in Madison and Dane County. From 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. seven days of the week, its ride service prevents the sexual assault and harassment of women and children and increases their mobility.

Women's Transit Authority's daytime community assistance ride service provides free transportation to medical and mental health appointments; to food resources, including grocery stores, food pantries, and free meal sites; and to organizations such as battered women shelter and Salvation Army for emergency assistance. It provides transportation for the elderly to local senior centers, where they are provided with meals and opportunities to socialize with others. It provides rides for Spanish-speaking, Hmong, and Cambodian families to medical appointments, support groups, and other needed services. It provides rides to battered women and their children and runaway teens to safe havens. Women's Transit Authority also contracts with the Well Woman's Program to ensure that low-income women have access to routine medical care, including mammograms. As it stated in its brochure, "When folks are isolated by poverty, age, disability, neighborhood, or language barriers, a free ride is more than a free ride." Women continue to provide Women's Transit Authority nighttime rape prevention ride service. Male volunteers may drive for its daytime community assistance ride service.

Women's Transit Authority sponsors an annual Clothesline Project, which is an audiovisual display of T-shirts created by women who have suffered from and survived some form of violence or made by others to commemorate women who have been murdered. T-shirts and art supplies are made available for women wanting to add to the display. Its Clothesline Project is part of an annual nationwide T-shirt display that is organized to acknowledge the effects of sexual assault. Women's Transit Authority provides speakers to clubs, churches, and businesses and works with other organizations to end sexual assault, for example, during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

But of course that wasn't the end of the siege.

In 1996, Roy U. Schenk filed suit with the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) claiming "that the Respondent, the Women's Transit Authority, discriminated against him on the basis of his sex by refusing to provide him with a ride for purposes of shopping." WTA denied the accusation. (Shopping? Seriously?)

Three men--Michael Goodman, Richard Rathman, and James Perry--filed suit in 2001 with the EOC claiming that WTA's circulars advertising "free transportation services for women and children" openly discriminated against men by "indicating that men are unwelcome and their presence unacceptable." As a result, they claimed, WTA "unlawfully communicates that men cannot access certain public facilities." (That their separate suits used identical language suggests a well-coordinated offensive strategy.) In 2003, however, the EOC ruled in favor of WTA: "The WTA announcements are not commercial speech. In promoting free transport services, they neither propose or contemplate commercial activity." In short, though the complainant(s) may find the announcements "unwelcoming," the first amendment free speech protections applied. The complaint was finally dismissed "for lack of jurisdiction" in early 2004.

Needless to say, the attacks took their toll.

By December 2005, it was announced that WTA owed $108,000 in back taxes they were unable to pay. It seems the IRS had ruled that WTA had better pay up on some $76,000 in back payroll taxes that had apparently been owed since 2003, in addition to "at least $32,000 in penalties and interest." WTA put out a plea for donations, hoping that some "generous angels" might help them out.

But in the next month, the "angels" were not quite as generous as WTA might have hoped, as only $7,000 in donations trickled in. As a result, it was announced that Women's Transit Authority was shutting down for good as of January 20, 2006.

At the time that the program ended after 33 years of business, Women's Transit Authority was providing over 20,000 rides a year and employed 12 persons. They owned four vans and three cars.  It was the largest free ride service in Dane County.

Did all the lawsuits and harrassment single-handedly destroy Women's Transit Authority? Perhaps not. But we can certainly assume that they diverted scarce resources that could have been used to support operational expenses. So in a sense, the men achieved their aim. A "floating" womyn's space was successfully targeted and eliminated, and as a result, the mobility/safety of women and their children in the public realm was greatly diminished.

Photo: WTA van

Lysistrata Restaurant

319 West Gorham Street today



Lysistrata Restaurant

Location: 319 West Gorham Street (corner of North Bloom & West Gorham), Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Founded: December 31, 1977

Closed: January 8, 1982

According to a Madison LGBT timeline, the birth of Lysistrata came to pass in this way:

Lysistrata logo

Lysistrata Restaurant opens its doors on December 31, 1977 as a women's restaurant and performance space. The board of the Lysistrata Cooperative includes Karla Dobinski, Kay Clarenbach, Ruth Bleier, Catherine Rouse, Andrea Mote Stelling, and Janet Brewer. By providing a multi-purpose space for socializing, entertainment, and meeting, Lysistrata becomes a central gathering place for the Madison feminist community.

In these 2008 recollections, lesbian activist Michele Besant had this to say about Lysistrata:

I was also trying to think of the other things that were here when I came to town.  You had very importantly, the women’s bar and restaurant was Lysistrata.  It’s now a parking lot on the corner of Broom and Gorham. It burned down in, I want to say ’83 [On January 8, 1982, a fire destroyed the Lysistrata Restaurant at the corner of North Broom and West Gorham Streets. The feminist restaurant cooperative operated in Madison, Wis. starting in 1977. Fire/arson investigators concluded the blaze was intentionally set].

All I know is I got to town and started going to the bar.  I fell in love with one of the bartenders.  We got involved.  She was trying to buy the bar but it burned down.  So we literally got a call at 2:00 a.m., “Your business just went up in smoke.” But that was a very interesting place and hugely important for organizing in the women’s community because it was this mix.  It was the women’s community.  It wasn’t just a lesbian place.  There was this huge mix.  It was a huge mix across class lines and age lines, which is something I don’t see as much in the town anymore.

See photo of Lysistrata bar employees (c. 1978) here.

Given that Lysistrata literally went up in smoke, it is something of an irony that Lysistrata was used as a location from which to recruit women for the Madison police and fire departments. Again, according to Besant:

Early recruiting of women for the Madison Police Department and Fire Department happened in Lysistrata.  Some of the women who have retired now, they got recruited at Lysistrata.  The, you know, fire chief and the police chief got people in there because they knew these were women who might be interested.  In the ‘80s all this stuff is going on.

Lysistrata's fiery demise was noteworthy enough to include in the historical archives of the Madison fire department:  

West Gorham Street Fire - On January 8, 1982, a fire destroyed the Lysistrata Restaurant, Flour Box Bakery and Confectionary, Jewels, The Living Room, and a sign painting shop at the corner of North Broom and West Gorham Streets. Firefighters were hampered by a collapsing roof and sub-zero temperatures which caused water to freeze as it poured into the streets creating a 4-inch coating of ice. Ice also slowed the efforts of fire/arson investigators who concluded the blaze was intentionally set. Losses were estimated at $500,000.

Lysistrata is also included on Madison's "Pink Plaque Tour" which had this to contribute:

Lysistrata Bar
The outdoor café space of 319 Gorham Street
This much-mourned womyn’s space was a very popular bar, restaurant and community space. An unfortunate fire took it away and caused much lamentation. The name derived from the Greek play of Aristophanes where women seek to control their destinies and shape a world dominated by men by withholding sex from men in the interests of peace.

Note that even today, there is a Friends of Lysistrata group on Facebook. That's loyalty. Especially for a place that ended nearly 30 years ago....

And this, I must say, is virtually unprecedented. There is even a salad named after the Lysistrata Restaurant that's served at Manna Cafe & Bakery. Wow. And the salad sounds pretty tasty too!

Photo: 319 West Gorham Street today (Quinton's Bar & Deli), Lysistrata logo

Hot Legs

Hot Legs (1986)

Hot Legs

Location: 814 South Second Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Opened: Late 1984

Closed: July 1987

Just stumbled across yet another lesbian bar, Hot Legs, at the Wisconsin GLBT History Project.

Hot Legs was opened opened by co-owners Kathy and Karen at the site of the old Shadows bar. In its day, Hot Legs was apparently considered THE hot lesbian bar in Milwaukee. But despite its popularity, it lasted just three years.

Photo: Wet T-shirt party at Hot Legs in July 1986

Nite Beat

Ad for Nite Beat (1972)

Nite Beat

Location: 196 South 2nd Street (1964-1968), 183 South 2nd Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (1968-1972)

Opened: Approximately 1964

Closed: June 1972

Just discovered the Wisconsin GLBT History Project, which has lots of great information, including a detailed list of bars, restaurants, and businesses.

Nite Beat was one of two bars that were specifically identified as being for women. (The other "dyke bar" was Wildwood, which was located at 13th and Walnut and existed for a time in the 1960s.)   Here are some of the basic facts about Nite Beat.

It was variously advertised as a "girl's bar" and "where women meet." The proprietors (according to the advertisements) were Carrie and Stan. Advertisements for the Nite Beat can be found in the GPU News (the advertisement here is from March 1972). It became the Riviera Show Lounge in June 1972.

Maryann G. shares the following recollections:

The Nite Beat was a hard-core diesel bar. Butches were butches, femmes were femmes, and my generation of role-light young feminists was viewed with total suspicion. Although it was on street level, you felt as though you were walking into a basement. My first time there, I met Buffy Lee John, who made circles in the palm of my hand with her middle finger and whispered, "You've had the rest, baby, now have the best!" Buffy was a skinny little bulldyke, cigarettes rolled into the sleeve of her black muscle shirt, tatoo of the famous femme Lana on her bicep. All the butches of the generation just before mine competed for Lana, especially Buffy Lee John and Spike the Dyke.