Gay clubs in evansville indiana

A handful of Evansville drag performers — in bright makeup and wild, sexy dresses — walked quietly onto the Scandals Night Club stage Wednesday. It wasn't the normal lively start to a night of dance and celebration. It was a moment of mourning. The mass shooting at a gay night club in Orlando last week has left many in Evansville's LGBT community feeling deeply shaken — fearful in a place they've never felt afraid.

Clubs like this are a sanctuary for the LGBT community. A place where all feel safe and welcome. But you walk in the door here, and they all get it. Payne stood with other performers outside Scandals. He looked quietly at the building for a moment. Scandals, located near the intersection of U.

Scandals' owner, Michael Stocker, was worried that people would be too afraid to come after the Orlando incident. Though often less high profile than the Orlando shooting, violence is nothing new to this group.

Evansville's oldest gay bar to reopen this fall after closing at beginning of pandemic

Until the mids, it was illegal in Indiana to gather in a bar or club that catered to homosexuals. Same-sex sexual activity in general was also illegal. A few local places quietly catered to the gay community and at the risk of being arrested, gay people gathered for shows and dances.

Evansville's first openly gay bar, the Swinging Door on Evansville's West Side, opened in summer My friends and I weren't 21 yet, so we'd just sit outside and listen to the music. Gathering openly may have felt liberating, but it was also dangerous. Bricks regularly flew through the bar's windows and cars were damaged in the parking lot.

A group of young men in pickup trucks began stalking the bar at night. When they found people alone, they attacked and beat them with baseball bats, Coures said. But despite the violence, gay bars in Evansville grew steadily more popular. There weren't any other places where the gay community could gather.

Barrell remembers one evening he was with a few friends near the old post office in Downtown Evansville when a group of young men carrying baseball bats swarmed his car. Someone in a car that looked like Barrell's almost hit one of the men. The men had Barrell on the ground, kicking and beating him. Barrell's friend pulled up at that moment and pushed his back car door open.

Barrell threw himself in the car and they sped away.