We're honoring 60 years of being seen

Join us as we come together in Milwaukee for an "hour of power" and a toast to our elders on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 -- as we celebrate the battle for our rights to BE SEEN, be served, and assemble as an LGBTQ community.

Fluid and the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project are joining a national celebration connecting hundreds of queer spaces across America.  We will be connected LIVE by Zoom and Instagram Live with dozens of LGBTQ-owned bars around the country to demonstrate the power of our community.  Photographs and video clips will be collected for the Project. 

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Did you know?

• Until 1982, it was perfectly legal for any bar to refuse service to known or suspected homosexuals in Wisconsin.
  
• Two men, who did not know each other, were not allowed to sit on barstools together, nor turn to face each other while drinking, or they could be charged with "pandering." (police code for "cruising")
  
• Bartenders who served gay men or lesbians could lose their licenses; bars who allowed them to congregate were often declared "disorderly houses" and closed down. (This is why bars like Your Place (30 years,) The Mint (40 years,) and This Is It (57 years) were so legendary -- the average gay bar only lasted as long as it took for the police to discover it existed.)
  
• Gay bars were forced to operate under the radar, usually paying the police for protections, and customers were treated as second-class citizens who didn't deserve the same treatment as straight people.
  
• Most gay bars were owned by straight people profiting from the community, who would gladly turn their customers over to the police to avoid getting in trouble.  It was not uncommon for operators to say "I don't know them" when their most loyal customers were being arrested.

Today, this may seem unthinkable. To our elders, it was just everyday life. 

On April 21, 1966, the Mattachine Society organized a protest to challenge discrimination and assert our First Amendment rights to assemble. After announcing they were gay and requesting service, they were immediately refused -- and the moment was photographed and received widespread media attention. 

The Sip-In was just one of many dominoes that fueled the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. 

This national event offers a chance for the community to come together and celebrate LGBTQ history, at a time when we are being censored, excluded, and erased. The Sip-In Celebration is sponsored by the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project and the LGBTQ Heritage Alliance, of which the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project was a founding member.

Come celebrate LGBTQ history and activism as we connect to the NYC anchor event at Julius’ bar via Zoom and Instagram Live. Photos of Mattachine Society members and Sip-In participants Dick Leitsch, John Timmons, Craig Rodwell, and Randy Wicker. Gift of The Estate of Fred W. McDarrah. 

All guests are encouraged to use hashtag #SipIn60 in social posts.