Back Door (Madison)

Rodney Scheel and partner Jack opened the Back Door on December 1,1972. It was a new breed of gay bar for Madison, where queer spaces were previously claimed within tolerant straight bars. 

The April 1973 GPU News advertised the Back Door as "New to Madison!" and celebrated "3 levels of entertainment."  Rodney Scheel's biography noted the bar's diverse "experimental phases" – operating as a bar, restaurant, piano bar, and dance club. The Back Door became a significant home-away-from-home for newly liberated gay men, lesbians, and their friends. 

In 1973, The Back Door hosted an employee/customer appreciation party. By 1977, this event evolved into the MAGIC Picnic, a city-wide fundraiser supporting Madison LGBT organizations. "MAGIC" stood for "Madison Area Gay Interim Committee." The MAGIC Picnic continued as an annual event well into the early 2000s.

July 1977 marked a significant shift with the opening of Going My Way, a larger gay bar on West Main Street. As the Back Door's dance crowd flocked to the new venue, Scheel began to plan his next big thing.  Accepting defeat, the Back Door hosted an invitation-only "Goodbye to Oz" farewell party on October 31, 1977.

Two years later, Rodney Scheel opened Rod's in the Hotel Washington. This establishment became a legendary Madison bar throughout the 1980s and 1990s, serving as a local LGBTQ landmark throughout the 1980s and 1990s. 

The Back Door remained a cherished memory for Rodney. In December 1992, the Hotel Washington hosted a "Back Door 20th Anniversary Party," highlighting the bar's lasting impact.