Gay bar bloomington il

1. The Bistro (19 reviews) $Closed until PM “IIRC, I think this is the only gay bar in the whole Bloomington-Normal area.” more Gay Bars Dive Bars. As far as meeting LGBTQIA+ people there- I don't go frequently enough to know if the crowd has changed much from just being a cheap dive bar downtown. But you'll be comfortable and supported there to say the least.

the bistro bloomington, il

From Chicago to Bloomington, Illinois offers diverse gay-friendly havens. Progressive cities like Chicago, Evanston and Oak Park boast lively LGBTQ neighborhoods and pride events. College towns like Champaign-Urbana and Carbondale exude youthful queer energy. And Bloomington's longtime advocacy makes it an LGBTQ hub. Sports Bar, American, Bar Bistro Bar, Gay Bar, Dive Bar Restaurants in Bloomington, IL.

With over clubs, bars, restaurants and shops the Spartacus Going Out Guide is the largest online search engine for gay nightlife and lifestyle worldwide. MORE : To see a longer version of this article, more photos and related video, aim your smartphone camera at this code and click the link. On Friday, March 3, , The Pantagraph ran a 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 country music bar at N. Main St. On April 1, , two weeks after opening, Peden found his car vandalized and the door to the bar 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.

Unfortunately, these weren't isolated incidents, nor were they merely a cold welcome to the community that faded with time. My Place continued to be the target of desecrators throughout its four-year tenure downtown. However, thrown eggs were the least of the bar's worries. Frequent fines from the city and liquor license suspensions proved more of a deterrent, and the bar closed in After My Place closed, another gay bar took its place: Twylla's Place.

Partners in business and life, Dan Cochran and Mark Mears no relation to one of the authors of this article , originally tried to open Twylla's at W. Chestnut St. In November , they got approval from the commission to open a smorgasbord-style restaurant at N. Killarney's Irish Pub today. There is little record or review of the food at Twylla's, but on Valentine's Day , an ad ran in The Pantagraph stating it was "the only gay bar in town.

Allegations raised by a former bartender related to a New Year's Eve party at the bar before Tywlla's liquor license went into effect resulted in charges against Cochran, including selling liquor he bought at a retail store, selling to minors, selling after hours, selling without a state license, selling with an invalid city license and recording liquor sales as food sales.

After 10 hours hearings over three meetings, the Bloomington Liquor Commission imposed a nine-day closure of the bar, set to start on April 5, , and subjected Cochran to a day business audit. The article reported Cochran had officially lost his liquor license just one day after the city was due to begin the audit of his financial records. Cochran and Mears left town with no forwarding address, and phones at the bar and their home were disconnected.

Cochran and Mears quietly returned to the area in the late s and began purchasing, renovating, and selling several buildings in Bloomington. Euphoria today. Local drag queen Lauren Alexander worked at Bourbon Street as a bartender and performed there on the weekends. This is also where she met her drag daughter, Sharon ShareAlike, now one of the most widely recognizable Central Illinois drag queens.

ShareAlike says Alexander's mentorship taught her to command a stage and an audience. She's passed her wisdom down to countless queens and has 10 ShareAlike offspring. DME Drag Shows and Bookings now formally represents Sharon and the ShareAlikes and has them booked all over Illinois, performing every weekend, often three nights a week, but The Bistro will always be home. The Bistro was Cochran and Mears' second business venture into gay nightlife and still is at N.

After just three months, they sold it to Jan Lancaster in Lancaster, affectionately known as Momma, has owned and operated the self-proclaimed "alternative bar" ever since. It hasn't always been sunshine and rainbows, though. Like the early vandalism seen at My Place, The Bistro has received hate over the years.