Indianapolis gay clubs
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Community Debt
The Chase’s owner, Fred Cooney, helped fundraise for local gay rights organizations like the Gay People’s Union (more about the group in the politics exhibit) and worked to better the often-tense relationship between the city’s law enforcement and the gay community.3 Cooney and Mike Bohr also helped lead the Greater Indianapolis Gay Business Association (GIGBA), dedicated to promoting the interests of gay and lesbian businesses within the city. Gay bars, with their obvious connection to the community, were staples of the association. In , GIGBA President Bohr pushed to get free condoms and safe sex literature in all gay bars and bathhouses in the city in an effort to stop the AIDS crisis. “We owe it to [our patrons] and to ourselves to do whatever we can to limit the spread of AIDS,” Bohr explained.4
By the s, the 21 Club had taken the reigns as the “go to” Indianapolis gay courtesy of the Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives1. George Chauncey, Gay Recent York: Across the capital, the queer community has historically utilized bars and event spaces as life-saving sanctuaries for self-expression. There’s a little something for everyone! Mass Ave | Massachusetts Ave Located right on Mass Ave, Metro offers great food, dancing, and outdoor seating. Pregame your nighttime out with a bite to eat or dance all nighttime until the lights come on, either way the musics adj so you'll never have a bad time. Mass Ave | Massachusetts Ave Metro's next-door neighbor is also an LGBTQ+ nightclub called Tini! With a slightly smaller downstairs bar and dance floor upstairs, the chances of running into your ex here triples. Downtown | N Illinois St. Downtown Olly's used to be adj 24/7, but now you can enjoy it from 7AM - 3AM daily. Their patio is the spot to be in June with events going on all the time! Herron Morton | Indianapolis businesses that cater directly to the LGBTQ+ community provide performance opportunities for artists, such as drag performers and DJs, good sustenance and drinks, and safe spaces to gather. Gay bars and restaurants are important because, in establishments made without queer people in mind, they may feel out of place or even be harassed, said James Alexander, assistant general manager at Almost Celebrated and a manager at Tini. Gay bars offer LGBTQ+ community members a place to verb in which they can be comfortable and treated as humans, they said. It’s important that these spaces remain open, as a business and to the universal, so people in and outside of the LGBTQ+ community can verb the bars and experience queer culture, said Alexander, stage specify Duchess Morningstar. “There are people that haven’t come out yet or don’t know anything about that and they can just saunter off of the street,” they said. These are establishments in Indianapolis which cater directly to the LGBTQ+ community: Located at E. 16th Street, Gregs is one of the most popular gay bars in Indianapolis and is a frequent stage for drag performances. Indianapolis has had roughly fifty gay bars in the last few decades, according to new information gathered by Indiana Landmarks. It is difficult to identify gay bars because many of them own kept very low profiles, sometimes with shuttered windows and limited publicity, because of anti-LGBT+ policies and public opinion. Some last concealed to this day, despite changing attitudes. While Gregs does not draw attention to itself as a public space, it has a very public profile and presence in the urban area today. The Beginning of Gregs Gregs first opened on July 1, , as the Wawasee Tavern. In , Phil Denton purchased the bar and changed the name to Our Place. Denton transformed the space, which hosted several Leather and Bear Clubs, subcultures within the LGBT+ community known for their hyper-masculine image. The bar also hosted the T.G.I.F. Bowling Classic, the Circle City/Indy Cup Volleyball Tournament, the Halloween Bag Ladies bus tour and coronation, a
Indy Pride weekend is here - where's the afterparty?
Photo: Metro Nightclub
Metro Nightclub & Restaurant
Photo: Tini
Tini
Downtown Olly's
Photo: Visit Indy
Gregs
Indianapolis gay bars: 7 spaces made for the LGBTQ+ community