Save This is It!
Donation protected
Help save This is It! - Wisconsin's Longest Running Gay Bar
In 1968, at a time when the LGBT community much needed it, Catherine (June) Brehm created a safe place not only for her LGBT friends, but also for everyone who celebrated diversity and the beauty of their fellow human beings.
June's son Joe invited me in 2012 to take the reigns of the business his mother started, after they kept it going through some of the hardest times for the LGBT community. I knew the weight of the responsibility I was accepting - knowing that Joe was trusting me to not only preserve his and his mother's legacies, but also the legacy and history of what had become a Milwaukee institution.
Upon Joe's death a few years ago, the full weight of being the custodian of that legacy and that history set in. I decided to accept that responsibility head-on, and knew my mission clearly: I will see this place to it's 50th anniversary, and lead it to another 50 years on. We not only saw the bar to it's 50th, we, in the same year, announced aggressive plans to expand the bar.
We opened the expanded space in January of 2019 and the community embraced the new addition to This is It!. We were able to open our space to performers in a way never possible before, our patrons had an amazing new dance floor, we created a dozen new jobs, and were the first bar in decades to be able to host 18+ events. It has truly been an amazing past few years for the staff, our performers, customers, Trixie, and me.
We ask that if you believe in Trixie and me, in what we and our amazing staff provide for the community, the legacy of Joe, June and everyone who came before us, the preservation of one of the oldest LGBT bars in the country - please help us bridge the gap in cashflow that the pandemic creates.
We will use all funds raised to make sure we can cover expenses to operate less than 50% capacity, and thereby making sure that all our employees still have a job when its all over.
Please, even if it is the price one drink, we ask you for you help. Anything will be accepted and appreciated.
- George Schneider & Trixie Mattel
#SmallBusinessRelief #savequeervenues
In 1968, at a time when the LGBT community much needed it, Catherine (June) Brehm created a safe place not only for her LGBT friends, but also for everyone who celebrated diversity and the beauty of their fellow human beings.
June's son Joe invited me in 2012 to take the reigns of the business his mother started, after they kept it going through some of the hardest times for the LGBT community. I knew the weight of the responsibility I was accepting - knowing that Joe was trusting me to not only preserve his and his mother's legacies, but also the legacy and history of what had become a Milwaukee institution.
Upon Joe's death a few years ago, the full weight of being the custodian of that legacy and that history set in. I decided to accept that responsibility head-on, and knew my mission clearly: I will see this place to it's 50th anniversary, and lead it to another 50 years on. We not only saw the bar to it's 50th, we, in the same year, announced aggressive plans to expand the bar.
We opened the expanded space in January of 2019 and the community embraced the new addition to This is It!. We were able to open our space to performers in a way never possible before, our patrons had an amazing new dance floor, we created a dozen new jobs, and were the first bar in decades to be able to host 18+ events. It has truly been an amazing past few years for the staff, our performers, customers, Trixie, and me.
We ask that if you believe in Trixie and me, in what we and our amazing staff provide for the community, the legacy of Joe, June and everyone who came before us, the preservation of one of the oldest LGBT bars in the country - please help us bridge the gap in cashflow that the pandemic creates.
We will use all funds raised to make sure we can cover expenses to operate less than 50% capacity, and thereby making sure that all our employees still have a job when its all over.
Please, even if it is the price one drink, we ask you for you help. Anything will be accepted and appreciated.
- George Schneider & Trixie Mattel
#SmallBusinessRelief #savequeervenues
Organizer
George Richard
Organizer
Milwaukee, WI