This Month in the History of Gay and Lesbian life in Wisconsin--
Month by Month, Year by Year

This Month in Wisconsin LGBT History: August 2007

35 years ago-- 1972-- The Wreck Room bar opens, with an ad showing the front end of a car coming through the wall (a prominent feature of this bar for most of its 20+ years in business). Lydia's Bar relocated from Kenosha to Racine. Other popular bars include The Cove Bar and The Neptune, and "This Is It" serves food all the time, advertising "steak plate $3.95". The Stud Club, recently renamed Michelle's, holds a contest for Mr. Stud and Mrs. Stud.

30 years ago-- 1977-- July and August issues of GPU News include unique cover art by local artist Bob Stocki, which was also sold as posters: the July cover, "Fighting the Dragon", shows ten terms of intolerance, while the August cover, "The Language of Oppression", shows some 28 different words used to describe gay people (and which originally appeared on the cover of the January 1975 issue). At this time, the GPU News is an independent publication, no longer associated with the Gay Peoples Union, which was its origin; it has subscribers in every state, Canada, and several foreign countries, and is easily one of the top 5 gay periodicals in the nation.

20 years ago-- 1987-- August has been a popular month for new bar openings: this month, Wreck Room celebrates their 15th anniversary, while Fannies celebrates their 4th, Back East 3 years, and Gay St. Station 1 year anniv. Hot Legs however closed this month.

15 years ago-- 1992-- Madison's Leather Weekend is held at Phaze II and Hotel Washington. The Blue Light Bar opens in Sheboygan. Two people are attacked after leaving This Is It bar in two separate incidents in a 2 week period; an arrest is made. Terry Boughner begins a series of articles in Wisconsin Light newspaper explaining the work of the ARCW.

10 years ago-- 1997-- Kevin Rotar, popular Milwaukee bartender, drowns. Midwest Invitational Softball Tournament is held in Milwaukee for the first time ever. OZ bar (formerly the Mad Hatter) opens in Green Bay.

    35 years ago
    1972

    GPU News, August 1972
    View select pages from this issue
     
    30 years ago
    1977

    GPU News, August 1977
    View select pages from this issue
     
    25 years ago
    1982

    (no resources available from August 1982)
    20 years ago
    1987

    In Step, vol. 4 no. 13
    (Aug 6-19, 1987)
     
    15 years ago
    1992

    In Step, vol. 9 no. 16
    (August 13-26, 1992)
    View select pages from this issue
     
    15 years ago
    1992

    Wisconsin Light, vol. 5 no. 16
    (August 6-19, 1992)
     
    10 years ago
    1997

    In Step, vol. 14 no. 17
    (August 21, 1997)
     
    10 years ago
    1997

    Wisconsin Light, vol. 10 no. 17
    (Aug. 14-27, 1997)
     
    10 years ago
    1997

    Quest, vol. 4 no. 13
    (Aug. 7-20, 1997)
     

Note: The issues appearing above are some of those dated in the featured month. However, relevant news may appear in issues previous to or after that pictured and linked above: earlier issues may have ads or announcements of upcoming events, and later issues may carry actual photos or more extensive coverage of events that occurred after publication deadlines.


 

Credits: "This Month in History" concept by Kate Sherry of Q-Life, and Don Schwamb;
Page design and arrangement by Don Schwamb.
Last updated: August-2007.