Love for all at The Back Door

The Back Door is a new gay bar in Bloomington, the name evoking both a coy double entendre and, quite literally, a back door.

Behind Atlas Bar, you can peer in before opening hours and see dormant zebra print walls, a vintage chandelier hanging next to a disco ball and two purple zoot suits sitting on a coat rack by a large bear costume, waiting until they are needed.

Today is their grand opening, and the moment all of these things will fall into their places.

This fresh establishment is an answer to a plea made by enthusiasts for downtown Bloomington nightlife who aren’t finding quite what they’re looking for — the ones scrounging for a place to dance but is also not someone's shady house party.

Though it is a venue sprung forth by and for the LGBT community, few bars could be more inclusive.

On The Back Door’s pre-opening previews on past Saturday nights, men, women and non-identifiers came from all ages and backgrounds, social groups weaving in and out of one another.

From straight couples to drag queens, middle-aged folks to budding burlesque performers, the synergy of the atmosphere is unified in one valiant place: the dance floor. The bar becomes a cultural petri dish on its sweaty, glamorous nights.

During the course of the bar’s development, the project has become a community space more than anything, helping open doors for small-town queers to find love and companionship, as well as provide fun space for open-minded people to grab a drink.

“It gets very sexy in here,” co-owner and proprietor Olive Lykins said.

Their motive, Lykins said, is to rekindle the legacy of the former Bloomington icon, Bullwinkle’s, a gay bar located downtown in the late 1970s that has since closed.

The new Back Door dance venue inherited Bullwinkle’s artifacts, such as event posters donated from the Kinsey Institute and a fully salvaged cinder block wall with the Bullwinkle’s logo. The Back Door not only nods to the story of Bloomington’s LGBT past, but embraces every demographic across the board.

As Bloomington has opened up opportunities for the new dance bar and the brains behind it, The Back Door finds dance the main attraction for as many demographics as possible.

Catering equally to the LGBT community, the straight community and the sober community, as well as bringing bands and local talent, The Back Door is malleable, a room of requirement ready to take the shape of whatever you need that evening.

As the grand opening falls on Valentine’s Day, there is no doubt that the main mission for the team behind the bar is love for all. The Back Door has provided a need for dancing fiends, whether gay or straight, and it is thrilling that it opens during a “holiday” that makes so many feel isolated.

Not only does the bar do a remarkable job catering to a vast swath of people, but the prices are cheap, and sometimes you get free drink coupons for Atlas as well.
Stop by the bar this weekend, and let’s dance at Bloomington’s soon-to-be darling.

THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BAR

The Back Door and all of its glamour is the product of a small group of tenacious, socially conscious entrepreneurs.

The newly established dance venue has become a community project during the past few months.

“It’s about making a cultural destination,” Lykins said. “We want to create a safe place where it’s OK to express your identity and sexuality.”

About six months ago, Lykins was presented with the opportunity to open up the LGBT-friendly space and fostered the project with business partners Calvin Rose and Sara Gardner. Lykins came to the idea wanting to provide a safe place downtown after being verbally harassed at a Bloomington bar last summer. The team dreamed of a dance bar where nightlife prejudice wouldn’t be an issue.

“It’s hard, being a teenager in a small town,” he said.

Growing up in Bloomington, Lykins left high school early to do production for MTV in New York and has been in the entertainment business ever since. He has worked on events spanning from White House parties to shindigs at the Playboy Mansion. He never saw himself coming back to Bloomington, he said.

Gardner, also an IU alumnus, said she agrees having this space is essential to Bloomington’s cultural identity.

“We need a gay dance bar,” Gardner said.

Gardner said she was glad to have Bullwinkle’s when she was coming out, and she wants a newer generation to have a similar resource.

The venue’s anticipated grand opening will take place today, Valentine’s Day.

The Back Door is located at 207 S. College Ave. behind Atlas Bar. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and cover is $5.