Appleton gay bar

"This is where I come to be with my people."

Once again last week, Rascals went from watering hole to refuge, as hundreds gathered for a vigil in the aftermath of the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

That feeling of refuge has been a calling card for Rascals for 24 years.

Tanya Harper, who's been going there at least once a week for more than a decade, met McKenney there, and now the two are best friends.

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Rascals Bar & Grill has been the Fox Valley's steady rock in gay/ lesbian bars from November 1992.

Previous to Rascals opening, Appleton's main GLBT bar for many years was 1101 West (c1980-88), and then Pivot Club took over the lead when it opened in 1986.

Every day.

"We just don't close," West said.

That applies to holidays, which can have a bittersweet benefit for those in the gay community who aren't fully accepted by their own families.

Rascals is similar to a gay and lesbian community center that a larger metropolitan area might have, Vosters said.

When organizers selected Rascals for the Orlando vigil, McKenney said it gave him pause, but only briefly.

"For a split second I thought, you know, is that really a good idea?" he said.

"Then I'm like, no, we're gonna come and celebrate peace and love and mourn the ones that died.

It is also a good spot for Sunday afternoon relaxation and drinks on the patio, and during the season for Packer games.

Each Christmas season, Rascals goes all out to decorate. Watch how you behave.' No matter where you are."

The same night as the Orlando shooting, Harper was with her wife in Neenah at Re Mixx, known as a gay-friendly bar but not a gay bar.

"As we were walking in, she went to put her arm around me, and I went to put her hand down, and I said, 'This isn't a gay event.

It attracts a good crowd early for fish fry (excellent cod and perch), and maintains the crowd into the late hours. I ain't gonna live my life in fear."

Katherine Lymn: 920-996-7232, or klymn@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @KathLymn

Map your best Appleton, Wisconsin gay and lesbian night out.

1995)

Photos: Rascals patio after
ROW (Rainbow Over Wis) picnic;
SIngsational performs
(Quest vol 3-17, Sept. Every month, 15 to 30 people would read a book, then meet at one person's home for a potluck dinner and discussion.

Cleo's Brown Beam Tavern is a bar that's "always been friendly," Nitz said, and the bar was even listed as a gay bar from 1977 to 1982 at its old location (adjacent to its current College Avenue slot), according to the Wisconsin LGBT History Project.

Rascals, in its 24 years, hasn't been the target of anything more sinister than slurs shouted from passersby or statements made in the greater community, longtime patrons said.

"I haven't even cleaned up an egg in probably 15 years," West said.

And the bar hasn't only stayed open in the business sense; it has stayed open.

He was in Harper's wedding.

Whether it's the June 11 mass shooting in Orlando or the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, "or any other major event in my life," Harper said, "the first place you think of coming is here, to be with your family and friends."

The bartenders are a family themselves, said Todd West, who opened Rascals in 1992.

"It just turned into like a safe haven for them."

Harper came out as gay during the AIDS crisis, and lived through the discrimination of people blaming the disease on the gay community. But since the Pivot Club closed in 1995, Rascals has firmly held the lead (with only passing competion from Diversions (1997-1999) (outside Neenah), and for a brief time, Crossroads (2000-2007), a smaller mostly-lesbian bar, and Ravens (2007-2013).

In 2000, original partner Glenn Paschen sold out to co-owner Todd West, who has owned the bar ever since.

Although on Saturday nights some of the crowd will travel to Green Bay for the larger (and wider variety of) bars, on Friday nights Rascals rules!

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Travel from south, north, downtown, midtown, city, east, country, uptown, west, or central - driving directions from your address to the location of the new Appleton, Wisconsin gay watering hole.

I'm not sure how that PDA (public display of affection) is gonna be accepted here.'"

"And then, of course, the next day we learn about what happened in Orlando."

Jesse Vosters, who was at Rascals for the vigil last week and again for happy hour drinks a couple days later, frequented the bar in the early 2000s.

"That's been a long way, from a place where you ended up on the shady side of town and hid your face when you walked in. Up to date information guide and directory - clubs, taverns, cocktails, video, GLBT community celebrations, karaoke, nightspots, lounges, pubs, parades, entertainment, festivals, sports bars, cruise bars, tea-dance, disco, country western, party bars, bars, dance bars, nightlife, nightclubs, and LGBT pride events.

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It's also the common meeting place to mourn a tragedy or injustice for someone in the gay family, said Kathy Flores, a leader within the LGBTQ community locally.

"It's a gathering place when we come together in celebration and it's a gathering place when we come together in sorrow," she said.

The Orlando shooting wasn't just another reason for regulars to gather at Rascals.

Nitz started the Lavender Reading Salon, an LGBTQ-themed book club, 25 years ago. It went strong for about 15 years, then fizzled out. The staff asked him to donate their pay from the night of the vigil to the Orlando victims, whose faces were printed large and taped to the bar's fenced-in back patio for the June 14 event.

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Over its nearly two and a half decades, the bar has been a hive for the LGBTQ community when it's time to celebrate good policy progress or a wedding reception.

"Some of the other bars in the area are welcoming but it's not quite the same thing."

Establishments like the Pivot Club, Raven's, Crossroads and other bygone gay bars aren't the only parts of LGBTQ culture that have gone away while Rascals has remained. Back then, he said, the bar seemed more necessary as a safe spot than it does today.

"I don't like to think one incident, as terrible as it was, can take the progress of where we've come," he said of Orlando.

When Rascals opened, it was the young upstart, its main advantage being location (Pivot Club was much larger, with large dance floor and stage- but Rascals was much closer to the downtown areas). Its grill makes for good eats most any time, with excellent burgers, fries, and sandwiches.