Trixie Mattel saves oldest Wisconsin LGBT bar with ownership stake Sat. February 13, 2021 10:04 AM by Gerald Farinas Milwaukee, Wis. -
RuPaul s Drag Race star Trixie Mattel is saving Wisconsin s oldest LGBT bar, This Is It!, purchasing an ownership stake. Brian Firkus, who plays Trixie, describes the historic drag queen haunt as “
Cheers in Milwaukee.” The bar was almost a casualty of COVID-19 mitigation.
Firkus s Trixie Mattel was listed as the fourth most powerful drag queen in America by
New York magazine after breaking out as a national hit in 2015 then winning
Drag Race All Stars in 2018. He is hoping that his drag persona s fame will make the 53-year-old bar a destination for Trixie fans, drag fans, and the larger LGBT community.
Trixie Mattel Is the New Co-Owner of Wisconsin s Oldest Gay Bar
“In 2020 it’s been thrown in our faces that queer spaces can disappear like that.
This story initially appeared on Out.com, read the original here.
Drag superstar Trixie Mattel isn’t ready to see her favorite gay bar shut down like so many others have done during the pandemic, so she did what anyone would do: became the bar’s co-owner.
Mattel, who won
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2018, says This Is It!, which opened back in 1968, was the first gay bar she visited after turning 21. Now she’s helping it to stay open by becoming a co-owner when it’s harder and harder for gay bars given the pandemic.
Trixie Mattel Is the New Co-Owner of Wisconsin s Oldest Gay Bar
“In 2020 it’s been thrown in our faces that queer spaces can disappear like that. February 03 2021 12:40 PM EST
Drag superstar Trixie Mattel isn’t ready to see her favorite gay bar shut down like so many others have done during the pandemic, so she did what anyone would do: became the bar’s co-owner.
Mattel, who won
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2018, says This Is It!, which opened back in 1968, was the first gay bar she visited after turning 21. Now she’s helping it to stay open by becoming a co-owner when it’s harder and harder for gay bars given the pandemic.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Drag superstar Trixie Mattel has seen about five LGBTQ+ bars in Los Angeles permanently close during the pandemic. Others in the City of Angels are turning to GoFundMe to stay afloat.
She didn t want to see Milwaukee s This Is It! suffer the same fate.
This Is It! was the first LGBTQ+ bar that Brian Firkus who developed his Mattel drag character in Milwaukee visited after turning 21. And it s the longest-running LGBTQ+ bar in Wisconsin, and one of the oldest in the country. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin recognized founders June Brehm and her son Joseph for their contributions to Wisconsin s LGBTQ+ community, and the bar became the site of the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project s first permanent public display in 2019.