This Is It for ‘This Is It:’ Wisconsin’s oldest gay bar closes for good

By Christina Lorey

April 19, 2025

Wisconsin’s oldest gay bar has closed for good.

The local institution, located on Milwaukee’s Wells Street since 1968, has witnessed some of the biggest moments in state history, like ⤵️

🏳️‍🌈 Signing the first Gay Rights Law in 1982

🏳️‍🌈 Hosting the first Pride March in 1989

🏳️‍🌈 Celebrating Tammy Baldwin’s election as America’s first openly-lesbian rep in 1998

🏳️‍🌈 Commemorating local marriage equality in 2014 and national marriage equality in 2015

In 2018, the bar led a city-wide effort to install the state’s first rainbow crosswalks!

“If you still think, ‘We don’t need gay bars anymore,’ you’re in for a surprise,” head of the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project reacted.

“In the weeks, months, and years ahead, we’re all going to learn the hard way how much the world needed spaces like This Is It — then, now, and always.” ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Author

Christina Lorey

Christina Lorey is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist and former UpNorthNews newsletter editor. She previously worked as a producer, reporter, and TV anchor for stations in Madison and Moline. When she’s not writing or asking questions, Christina volunteers with Girls on the Run, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and several mental health organizations.

View all posts

CATEGORIES: LGBTQ

Support Our Cause

Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Wisconsinites and our future.

Since day one, our goal here at UpNorthNews has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Wisconsin families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.