This Is It, Milwaukee’s Oldest Gay Bar, Announces Sudden Closure Due to Finacial Struggles

This Is It, Milwaukee’s oldest gay bar, permanently closed due to financial troubles stemming from COVID closures and road work, according to an Instagram post from March 9.   

“We have closed our doors permanently,” said the bar in the post announcing the closing. “The COVID crisis and the years following 2020, coupled with the 8-month closure of our street and sidewalk last year, put the business in a position that we could not ultimately overcome.”  

The bar was bought and co-owned by Brian Firkus, better known by his drag persona Trixie Mattel, in 2021 to help save it during the COVID shutdowns, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Firkus gained international recognition after starring on the reality competition show RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2015. He has since branched out to become a DJ, and owner of several businesses, including his own makeup line, Trixie Cosmetics. He co-owned This Is It with business partner George Schneider, who bought the bar in 2016.   

“We’ve been circling the drain since I joined, it was really sad,” said Firkus on her podcast The Bald and the Beautifulwith fellow drag performer Brian McCook. “That the bar I had my first drink at, that’s the bar I met boyfriends at, I loved performing there. I loved that bar. Once we closed it, I got really sad. I called my mom, and I started crying.”  

Since the closure, the bar posted a GoFundMe fundraiser to help support the staff, which was set up by former manager and performer Darnell Watson. The GoFundMe has since raised more than $23,000 for the staff. Firkus also announced they would be selling limited edition T-shirts, with the funds going to support the former staff.   

“This Is It wasn’t just a bar — it was a home, a safe space, and a place where unforgettable memories were made,” said Watson in a social media post asking for people to share their memories of the bar.  

The bar has been part of Milwaukee’s gay community for nearly 60 years, first opening in August of 1968. It was established by Catherine “June” Brehm, who owned and worked at several other bars and restaurants in the Milwaukee area, according to Michal Takach, board chair at the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project. She was a straight woman but was disgusted with the conditions at many of the local bars that would accept gay customers. She and her business partner Michel Latona then decided to open the bar catering to gay customers, despite laws at the time allowing restaurants and bars to refuse service to anyone even suspected of being gay.  

Despite her business partner wanting to open a restaurant catering more towards business professionals and facing potential legal troubles, Brehm pushed ahead and opened the bar anyway. After Brehm and Latona continued to disagree about their clientele, Latona left the business, leaving it to Brehm and her family to run.   

“She was like, they’re here. They’re human beings. They’re going to come if they have money to spend,” said Takach. “Then Latona exited the business soon afterward, so she took it over completely, and it became a family business.”   

Brehm then ran the business by herself until 1981 when, after some health issues, she transferred ownership to her son, Joe Brehm. June continued to manage the bar even after transferring ownership to her son and would come in nearly every day until her death in 2010.  

“It was a family bar, but neither Joe nor June were gay,” said Takach. “They were just doing this for the community. Over the years, they made a difference in the lives of thousands of people because they opened a space that people felt very comfortable at.”   

The closure of This Is It marks an important loss for the gay community in Milwaukee. While Milwaukee has six other gay bars and one lesbian bar, This Is It held an important historical place in the city and Wisconsin’s gay community as a whole.   

“It was Wisconsin’s oldest gay bar, and it was one of the 10 oldest gay bars in the country. And a place like that is living history,” said Takach. “I think that is a universal sorrow, it has so much meaning to so many people that the impact of its loss is almost immeasurable.”