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Gay bar bloomington in

Olive Lykins (left) and Sara Gardner. Photo by James Kellar

BY LIBBY PETERSON

After falling victim to a homophobic insult while out dancing last year, Olive Lykins decided that he had had enough. “That’s it,” he thought. “Bloomington needs a safe, fun place to dance where people will get your support if something like that happens.” Lykins teamed up with Sara Gardner to open a “queer bar” called The Back Door in the alley behind The Atlas Bar on South College.

Though it officially opened on Valentine’s Time, The Back Door had been hosting underground parties for months while still under renovation, including a Halloween Curious Cabaret and a New Year’s Eve party. It’s as much a performance space as a bar, Gardner says; burlesque dancers, drag shows, and hula-hoopers are just some of the acts so far.

“The bar developed this ‘what is going on here’ feel to it,” Lykins says. “And this is the ideal place to question your perceptions. It can gain a little wild.” Inside, people can sit and chat on church pews or dance on casket holders used as tables. Local artist Jordan Trendelman painted the walls in a zebra pattern, and artist Nicci Boroski painted the bathrooms with erotic des

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In this undated photo, the Glamour Dolls, a campy comedy duo comprising Jackie Bennett, left, and Lauren Alexander, perform at a AIDS benefit drag show organized by The Bistro in downtown Bloomington.

MORE: To spot a longer version of this article, more photos and related video, aim your smartphone camera at this code and click the link. 

Micaela Harris, Emily McCusker and Maria Mears McLean County Museum of History

On Friday, Rally 3, 1979, The Pantagraph ran a 150-word article on Page A3 announcing the opening of Bloomington's first gay discotheque.

It reported that William Peden, a hairstylist from Paxton who spent time in the Florida disco scene, purchased My Place, a land music bar at 426 N. Main St. (Wilson Cycle Sales & Service today). He spent around $130,000 to transform the space into a proper disco with seating for 300 people.

On April 1, 1979, two weeks after opening, Peden found his car vandalized and the door to the lock shattered by a hammer. A few days later, vandals ripped off a support beam of an overhang. Two weeks later, another two windows and a lock were damaged.

Welcome to the 'gayborhood': LGBTQ transplants on discovery B-N's evolving queer group

Adjusting to a unused place can be tough. But for LGBTQ people, moving to a unused city can be especially complicated.

Lawrence Lair is a Twin Cities transplant originally from San Diego.

“Living in California was becoming untenable,” said Lair. Escalating housing costs were making animation unaffordable for Lair and their spouse.

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Lawrence Lair

“We both work, but we couldn’t support the rent that we had to pay along with the cost of living,” they said. “We weren’t able to put anything away in savings, and we calculated out that, at this rate, we would own a house, uh, never.”

Lair looked at several states for a possible move. A graphic design job at Illinois State University brought them here.

“Deciding to move out of California as a queer person of shade , there’s a lot of things to consider,” Lair said.

Lair moved to Bloomington-Normal in 2021 at the height of the pandemic and against a backdrop of discrimination against people of Asian descent.

“There was a lot of break done to the Asian American community,” they said. “Also, it was the beg

gay bar bloomington in

Was Bloomington's first gay exclude in the Irish Lion building? What we set up about its history


After its closure in May, the Irish Lion Restaurant and Pub now joins the long and dramatic history of the West Kirkwood building it inhabited for over four decades. The building is currently listed for sale by Chris Cockerham with FC Tucker/Bloomington Realtors.

Here are some of the highlights from over a century of articles from The Herald-Times and Bloomington Evening World archives. 

West Kirkwood: Saloons, hotels and a questionable reputation

The Irish Lion building began in 1882 as a pub and inn, according to the restaurant’s website. A map of the town in 1892 shows the inn as Bundy’s European Hotel, a safe haven for travelers on the nearby railroad and boarding house tenants. There was a saloon on the first floor. 

The building has long been rumored to have provided salacious services. Though no specific building was mentioned, a newspaper article about county fairs in the 1890s described “questionable women shows” that would take place at the fair before creature transferred to the inns and saloons on West Kirkwood at night. The street and surrounding blocks had a sordid repu

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