Gay bars in iowa city
Iowa City: All of our creativity went into the name!
Iowa City is well-known as a hub for famous writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver, and Flannery O’Connor – though when I moved here as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, I mistakenly consideration that the University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop was actually for undergrads instead of a graduate program. Despite my initial mistake, it became clear to me that the love of writing pervades every brick and cobblestone of Iowa City, and its designation as a UNESCO Town of Literature remains an irresistible outline for poets, essayists, and authors of every variety.
To be perfectly honest, my first three years of school in Iowa City displeased me. Compared to my hometown, Austin, the whole town seemed claustrophobic and uncultured. Since graduating and moving beyond the prescribed borders of campus, though, my opinion has changed. Iowa City’s often overlooked elements include its vibrant DIY arts and music scenes, a thriving bike tradition, and activism that does not limit its scope to the white middle-class.
The negative aspects of campus life and my first run-in with Midwestern weather – i.e. somewhere that actually has snow in the
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Mid-1980's Iowa City homosexual parties
by Alan Light
I didn't take these photos, they are from others. I'm told these photos were taken mostly at parties before they went to the Iowa Capital gay bar, the 620 (620 South Madison Street) which was in its hayday in the 1980's, and closed in 1998. In these photos: Stan Parker, Kevin Manning, Ken Lillig, Brandt Turner, Jerry Cahill, Joel Isgrig, Todd Shipman, Marty Bender, Scott Tallman, John Hennigir, Jerry Cahill, Mike Paonessa, Duane Drees, Dan Sannes (Hardware Dan), Charlie Thompson, Greg Perkins, Scott Hesch, Brett Mauk, William Johnson, Tim Erickson, Bryan Postel, Brian Kirk, Thomas Ramsey, Quinn Constello, Gianni Suau, Danny Verling, Philip Longmeyer, Todd Schumacher, Todd Shipman, Bob Brown, Mark Hess, Michael Wood Pontarelli, Scott Neasham, Scott Hesch, Dave Nagle, Greg Perkins, Steve Piland - and many unknown.
read moreread lessThe history of Iowa’s oldest gay bar has been made into a documentary. Here's how to watch
On a usual Friday night at the Blazing Saddle in Des Moines’ East Village, tightly packed bodies crowd around the bar’s main stage, hands poking out from the throng to give cash tips to performersdressed in drag. It’s the Saddle Gurls & Friends show, and once the artists take their ultimate bow (or more commonly, dip into their most impressive split), the spotlights cut and the harmony bumps. Bargoers turn the stage into a technicolor dance floor, strong drinks in hand, staying genuine to the bar's motto: "Always a double, never a cover."
The Blazing Saddle is Iowa's oldest operating gay bar. It just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Opened in 1983 by Bob “Mongo” Eikleberry, it’s been referred to as the “Gay Cheers” and has seen Iowa — and the nation — through decades of adjust for the LGBTQ population: from the beginning — and end — of Don't Ask, Don't Explain, to the outbreak of the AIDs epidemic, to the legalization of queer marriage and the more recent passing and signing of anti-LGBTQ laws in the state.
That history will soon be distributed in the form of a six-episode do