For Alan, a 55-year-old father, it was a “coming-out party.” Just one week after his wife filed divorce papers when she found him in stages of undress with another man, he came to a gay bar in Bloomington – his first time in a gay bar in 20 years. \nIt felt like “the weight of the world” was lifted off his shoulders, he said. \nWhether they are first-time patrons celebrating their independence or regulars coming in to catch up with old friends, the owners of the two gay bars in town stressed everyone is welcome at the bars, regardless of sex or orientation. Many will also find that these bars attract straight customers and aren’t that different from any other Bloomington bar.\nUncle Elizabeth’s: Sports at a gay bar\nUncle Elizabeth’s owner Steve Keith said patrons should forget everything they think they know about a gay bar and leave their expectations and prejudice at the door. \n“Some people like to think a gay bar is going to be a den of iniquity, but it’s really not that different than a straight bar,” Keith said. “Oh, you’ll see more guys kissing each other.”\nHe said a lot of people think gay bars won’t have a ball game on, but on a wintry Saturday night a couple weeks ago, Uncle Elizabeth’s showed the IU-Michigan State basketball game on its big screen TV.\nKeith said they get a mixed crowd of people – from those who recently turned 21 to people who look like they’re in their 80s – and everything from couples to “singles looking for the occasional love connection.” The jukebox is as eclectic as the patrons and Keith said it “can go from Scissor Sisters to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Etta James.”\nThe name is also unique. Keith said “Uncle Elizabeth’s” came from the 1948 movie “I Remember Mama,” in which a little girl gets a cat and names it Elizabeth, believing it to be female. Her parents are worried she will be sad when she finds out it’s a boy. But when she does discover its gender, she smiles and decides to call the cat “Uncle Elizabeth.”\nKeith said he opened the bar about 10 years ago because he thought Bloomington had the need for an alternative bar where people could “relax and talk.”\nBloomington resident Laura Monroe said she enjoys the atmosphere of Uncle Elizabeth’s, which she’s been coming to every weekend for a couple years.\n“It’s not garish like some bars can be,” Monroe said. “It’s homey.”
Willy Joe’s: less Willies, more Joannas \n“Off the beaten path” is how owner Taine Watkins describes her bar. Willy Joe’s is located behind Upland Brewery on a gravel road off 11th Street and will celebrate its second anniversary in May. Watkins said the beer-only tavern fills up with regulars for live bands, IU and Colts games, occasional drag shows, karaoke and nights when the TV show “L Word” airs.\n“We have a great relationship with Uncle Elizabeth’s,” Watkins said. “If it’s too loud and they want liquor, we send them over there. Come here and see live events and dance.”\nWilly Joe’s is decorated with a number of swirl tie-die logos and posters of Melissa Etheridge and Queen. Watkins estimates that 80 percent of the patrons are women and 20 percent are men. She guessed the average age to be 35. \nThe jukebox has a “Willy Joe’s mix” with songs such as “Gold Digger” by Kanye West and “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas – songs one is just as likely to hear at Kilroy’s Sports Bar.\nLike Uncle Elizabeth’s, the bar also has an interesting namesake. The name for Willy Joe’s was taken from Watkins’ childhood, when her mother dropped her off at the wrong kindergarten hour and she ended up with all boys. Trying to extend her time playing with the boys, the young, short-haired Watkins told the teacher her name was Willy Joe.\nWatkins said she opened the bar because it was something she always wanted to do and she “didn’t have much going on.” She said she loves the energy and socializing the bar provides.\nTaking cover at the door in a dress shirt and tie, IU student Amanda Parish, who’s graduating in May, said she has so much fun she barely considers it work. She fondly remembered when she started working and regulars threw coasters and popcorn at her to initiate her into the bar. She said the bar is crazy, fun and easy to get attached to. \n“Some people come in that have never heard of the place and fall in love with it,” Parish said.
Open to everyone\nWhile the origins of the names of the bars could lead one to believe the bars are for gender-confused patrons, that’s not the case. Everyone from bartenders to owners and patrons insist the bar is open for everyone and that all they ask is tolerance and acceptance from anyone that comes in.\nKeith recalled a time when a frat added the Uncle Elizabeth’s to its bar crawl and there was a little concern that the frat members would be drunk and disorderly, but one of the brothers went up to Keith, and said if anyone said anything offensive he’d personally “kick their ass.”\nBeing a straight guy in a predominantly lesbian bar can be intimidating, but Bloomington resident Cory Clawson said he feels more comfortable at Willy Joe’s than any other bar. He said he loves being there because it doesn’t matter whether there are “two or 100” patrons.\n“You don’t have to deal with the drama you have in other bars every night,” he said.\nCathryn Lee from Ellettsville said she comes in to Willy Joe’s three to four times a week because it’s “not a meat market” and she doesn’t mind getting hit on by women, even though she’s straight.\nBartender Shane Edge has been working at Uncle Elizabeth’s for nine months and said he feels more comfortable at the bar than any straight bar he’s worked at. The married bartender said it felt “special to be the honorary token straight guy,” as Keith calls him.\nHe grew up in Kentucky where he said he noticed a lot of racism, sexism and homophobia. He said he enjoys working in a gay bar because it’s like being on the flip side of all the negativity he grew up with.\n“It’s an oasis for everybody that doesn’t want to go to the frat and sorority bars,” Edge said. “We’re open to anybody. Be open-minded, be cool and you’re welcome.”\nWilly Joe’s and Uncle Elizabeth’s have no immediate expansion plans, but both owners said they foresee a future of opening up the bars and making them bigger. But for now both are happy with providing guys like Alan a place to drink and meet people without being judged.\n“The future is so bright. I see a rainbow around every corner,” Alan said. “I’ve never done anything for myself. This is my time. I’m disappointed no one has hit on me yet, though.”
