07: Walker’s Pint | Milwaukee, WI
SARAH: 1994 WAS A BIG YEAR FOR ANNIE CALTEAUX. IN THE PROCESS OF DIVORCING HER HUSBAND, SHE MET HER FUTURE WIFE. HERE’S BECKY MILLER, ANNIE’S WIFE.
BECKY: I was in real estate at the time. And she needed a market analysis done on her house. And she was actually getting it for a divorce. This market analysis, so that they could settle a divorce. That was our first real, real meeting. And so we sat at her kitchen table and went over all the details…. And that, that kitchen table ended up becoming my kitchen table about five years later.
SARAH: FOR A WHILE, ANNIE AND BECKY WERE JUST FRIENDS. THEY WERE BOTH CLOSETED, AND DIDN’T EVEN REALLY KNOW THEY WERE QUEER. HERE’S ANNIE:
ANNIE: It's funny. My some of my friends growing up after I was out, they said, Well, we know you were gay when you were in grade school. I'm like, Well, why didn't you tell me?
SARAH: THEN ONE DAY IN THE SUMMER OF ‘95, THEY REALIZED THEY WANTED MORE THAN JUST A FRIENDSHIP. ALL IT TOOK WAS A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE…
BECKY: Annie was out on a sailboat with a friend of hers and bad weather came up quickly. I was to meet her to go golfing at the lake and I was driving down and saw a massive storm coming in and she was on the lake
ANNIE: It was uh, a microburst
BECKY: And she was in a sailboat and the microburst picked her up, her entire sailboat up and turned it over and she and her friend were struggling and they uh, sorry…
ANNIE: Okay. We, we didn't think we were going to make it we there were five foot swells, on Lake Geneva which is unheard of. And we were both just holding on to the front ring of this 16 foot sailboat. And uh, we prayed, and then we uh, we said goodbye to each other. So we didn't think we were going to make it. And then we were rescued by the Water Safety Patrol–
BECKY: few people had called the Water Safety Patrol when they were out there because they knew that they were in trouble. And when the Water Safety Patrol came and brought them back to the pier, I just knew at that time that that there was more to our relationship. ….I knew that I loved her.
SARAH: AND ANNIE AND BECKY HAVE BEEN TOGETHER EVER SINCE.
BECKY: And it kind of started right then and there.
SARAH: THE PAIR LIVES IN FONTANA, WISCONSIN. ABOUT AN HOUR SOUTH OF MILWAUKEE. AND OUR NEXT LESBIAN BAR: WALKER’S PINT.
IF YOU ASK ANNIE AND BECKY WHAT THEIR COMMUNITY WAS LIKE BEFORE DISCOVERING WALKER’S PINT, THEY’LL TELL YOU…
BECKY: Straight!
ANNIE: Right? Pretty much. I mean, we have no actually our very best friends are guys.
BECKY: It's mainly our families and our very good straight friends that accepted us.
SARAH: THEY FIRST WENT TO WALKER’S PINT SHORTLY AFTER IT OPENED IN 2001.
ANNIE:…we just wanted a night out. And so we went up to Milwaukee and we went to I think it was used to be Fannies? What we thought was Fannies, which was a a woman's bar from way back, but it had closed and some people there told us because we were looking for a women's bar. And they told us well try Walker's Pint. And so that's how we found out about it and went there.
SARAH: AND THEY KEPT GOING BACK. AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, SINCE THEN.
BECKY: We've been driving back and forth to Walker's Pint for that many years. I mean, sometimes we'd stay over or whatever. But most of the time we had to drive home
SARAH: BUT FOR ANNIE AND BECKY THE HOUR LONG COMMUTE WAS WELL WORTH IT.
BECKY: And the thing is, as much as we are accepted here in our small town, Wisconsin, there aren't a lot of gay people that we hang with or associate with, or even know of, and we always could go there and, and be comfortable.
ANNIE: We have a lot of really, really good friends that are because of Walker’s Pint.
SARAH: LIKE BET-Z BOENNING, THE OWNER OF WALKER’S PINT, AND HER WIFE NIKKI.
BECKY: Yeah Bet-z and Nikki are some of our best friends. We see eachother probably more than we actually get to the Pint. We make a point of meeting up with them.
ANNIE: I've always said to Bet-z, that it's not just a bar, it's a community. And that's how we started in the gay community was through Walker's Pint.
SARAH: THIS IS CRUISING. A PODCAST ABOUT THE LAST LESBIAN BARS IN THE U.S. MY NAME IS SARAH GABRIELLI AND I’M TRAVELLING TO EACH ONE OF THEM WITH MY TWO FRIENDS AND CHOSEN FAMILY.
THIS IS STOP NUMBER 7, WALKER’S PINT.
BET-Z BOENNING’S FIRST LESBIAN BAR EXPERIENCE, WAS AT AN OLD MILWAUKEE SPOT CALLED FANNIES
BET-Z: Fannie's was in a in a community called Walker's point neighborhood. And that's kind of an industrial neighborhood. And it's currently where my bar is now. So my bar is actually maybe like six blocks from where Fannies was.
SARAH: THIS IS BET-Z, THE OWNER OF WALKER’S PINT. SHE MAKES AN IMPRESSION RIGHT OFF THE BAT. SHE SPELLS HER NAME BET-DASH-Z
BET-Z: Ever since--it had to've been like sophomore year in high school. My name’s Elizabeth with a Z and I've always liked the Z. But I didn’t want to go bye Liz, and I don’t know I just kinda wanted to have a little flare to it.
SARAH: IN 1993, BET-Z’S THEN-GIRLFRIEND TOOK HER TO FANNIES.
BET-Z: I walked in and it was just all these women that were, you know, kind of like me, you had your girly girls, you had your butchy lesbians, the older ladies that kind of you know, had their own little group of friends already and there was dancing there and
my girlfriend's introducing me to people. And she introduced me to this, this one woman who was still a great friend to this day. And she was a little tipsy. And she said, Wow, you have a great smile, and she goes smile for me. And so I smiled, and then she licked my teeth. And I said, I said, is this one this is like? You know, it was just so hysterical. It didn't like weird me out or anything, but I was like, Okay. I guess this is where I hang out now. I was welcomed immediately by these people with some weird ritual. I don't know.
SARAH: FANNIES WAS THE GO-TO LESBIAN SPOT IN MILWUAKEE FOR MANY YEARS. AND IT WAS A TRADITIONAL LESBIAN BAR IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD…
BET-Z: If you were a boy, and you wanted to come in, you'd probably want to go in with a woman. That's just how it was back then. And it was you know, no windows. And it was a little more you know, dark and hidden place.
SARAH: BUT IN 1997, FANNIES WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED IN A FIRE AND THE OWNER WAS CONVICTED OF ARSON. WHILE FANNIES WAS ABLE TO RE-OPEN AFTER THE FIRE FOR A FEW MORE YEARS, IT WAS NEVER THE SAME SORT OF GATHERING PLACE FOR THE LESBIAN COMMUNITY.
THEN, A NEW LESBIAN BAR CALLED DISH OPENED IN MILWUAKEE, AND BET-Z GOT A JOB BARTENDING THERE. SHE’D NEVER BARTENDED BEFORE, BUT SHE HAD ONE AFTERNOON OF TRAINING…
BET-Z: And then I got thrown into a party of 60, where I had to work by myself. So that's, that's how I learned how to bartend it was, you know, get thrown to the wolves and you either sink or swim. And apparently, I did well enough to get hired to work every weekend there. So that's how I started bartending.
SARAH: AFTER A YEAR, THE OWNER OF DISH REBRANDED FROM A LESBIAN BAR TO A BASIC DANCE CLUB. BET-Z STAYED AND WORKED THERE FOR A FEW MORE YEARS, BUT SHE YEARNED FOR THE TYPE OF SPACE THAT NO LONGER EXISTED IN MILWAUKEE.
BET-Z: I wanted to have a place that if and when I did have a girlfriend, I could feel comfortable going there. And it would be a safe spot for women and lesbians and a comfortable just relaxing kind of corner bar type type spot.
SARAH: AND SHE DIDN’T ALWAYS FEEL SAFE IN STRAIGHT BARS.
BET-Z: I mean, you haven't seen me, I'm six feet, I have short hair, I have a deep voice. I, you know, I don't really blend very well. So, you know, get picked on or comments and stuff like that, when I straight bars. You know, I just learned to deal with it over the years, no big deal, whatev. But, you know, it was just, we just felt better going to lesbian bars.
SARAH: PLUS, AFTER TRYING HER HAND AT A BUNCH OF OTHER JOBS, BET-Z REALIZED SHE WAS BEST AT BARTENDING.
BET-Z: I also had other jobs like I worked at an architecture firm. I worked at Menards for about a week. I did end up coaching high school. I did coach college. You know, I worked at a Windows Store for a couple of years doing just basic office work and uh, a camera store. And then once I started bartending it just kind of ignited something in like, I thought, Okay, this is something I could do. I could own something like this.
SARAH: SO BET-Z STARTED LOOKING FOR A SPACE TO OPEN HER OWN LESBIAN BAR.
BET-Z: At the time I had, I had some money saved, and I needed to take out a small loan. I found a little ad in the paper that said you know downtown bar patio bla bla bla. So we went on my 30th birthday to look at the spot. And I fell in love with it immediately.
SARAH: FOR ONE, THE BAR WAS IN WALKER’S POINT, MILWAUKEE'S UNOFFICIAL GAYBORHOOD. ITS AN INDUSTRIAL AREA, AS BET-Z MENTIONED, RIGHT OFF OF THE HARBOR. AND SPOTTED WITH MANY OF MILWAUKEES GAY BARS.
BET-Z: across the street is Fluid, which is a boys bar. Diagonal across the street is LeCage which is a mix dance club, like three storey dance club that's been around forever. There was a bunch of boys bars, you know, all around. And so it was kind of like a space where I knew if I opened it up here, my people would feel more comfortable coming.
SARAH: ANOTHER FEATURE THAT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO BET-Z – BIG, OPEN WINDOWS.
BET-Z: All the other gay bars that I had ever been in, we're always in dark caverns, and like, no windows and dark spaces. But nowadays, like, you want to look in and see me kissing my wife and you have a problem with it that's on you. I didn't care who looked in, I wanted us to be able to see what was going on and just feel like normal people because we're just normal people. So that’s always been really important to me, that by bar had nice big open windows.
SARAH: SO BET-Z SIGNED THE LEASE, AND THEN OFFICIALLY OPENED WALKER’S PINT IN THE SUMMER OF 2001.
FOR THE FIRST TEN OR SO YEARS, BET-Z WAS AT THE BAR EVERY DAY.
BET-Z: I bartended, a lot, ran all the events did all the ordering did all the cleaning everything.
SARAH: SHE STOPPED BARTENDING ABOUT SEVEN YEARS AGO. BUT SHE’S STILL SPENDS A LOT OF TIME THERE.
BET-Z:…I did this last year, move away about 45 minutes north. So I am relying a little bit more on the bartenders to take the lead. But I get down there as much as I can during the evenings. You know, I just I don't drink when I drive. So you know, I'll come down there and just hang out for a little bit. I'm not there as late. And also I'm old. So I'm, you know, being out until two in the morning isn't my jam anymore. I'm more of a daytime party person.
SARAH: Hi!
JEN: Oh it’s nice and cool in here.
SARAH: Yeah it feels really good.
SARAH:WE DIDN’T GET TO MEET BET-Z IN PERSON THE DAY WE VISITED WALKER’S PINT.
LEX: I’m Lex, nice to meet you. What’s your name?
SARAH: Sarah
JEN: Jen
LEX: Jen…Sarah, Jen.
RACHEL: Hi, I’m Rachel.
SARAH: INSTEAD, WE MET LEX, THE BARTENDER.
LEX HAS BEEN WORKING THERE FOR ABOUT 17 YEARS. SHE’S THE LONGEST RUNNING EMPLOYEE, ASIDE FROM BET-Z.
LEX: My first bartending gig was at a bar down the street from here. Bet-z the owner used to come down there and we just started hanging out, going to each other's bars and the PrideFest in 2004 I worked as a door person and then just kind of stuck ever since.
SARAH: CURRENTLY, LEX IS IN SCHOOL TO BECOME A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER. BUT SHE HAS STUCK AROUND BARTENDING BECAUSE SHE’S SAVING FOR HER DREAM:
LEX: Because mainly I just want to buy a boat.
SARAH: Really? Wait--what do you mean? What's your, what are you aiming for?
LEX: I need more money to buy a boat. I would love to get a tugboat. To be honest, I don't know if that would happen. I know how to I'm at a basic level of sailing. We have actually a really cool community sailing center Milwaukee, because sailing obviously is a very expensive sport to partake in. But for like $300 a year, you can have use of all their boats and they train you It's pretty cool. So yeah, just like to get uh some land on a lake and buy a boat.
SARAH: BET-Z IS REALLY THE ONE THAT HAS KEPT LEX AT WALKER’S PINT FOR SO LONG. SHE’S A GOOD BOSS.
LEX: Bet-Z is very kind, easy to work for. And she just as an endearing human being I know, I'm not the only one that kind of thinks that about her. She's a giant kid, which I can relate to, to some degree.
…this is this is a good sum up of Bet-z Hold on.
SARAH: LEX DISAPPEARED FOR A MOMENT TO GET SOMETHING FROM THE OFFICE. IT WAS A NOTE - THAT LEX HAD WRITTEN FOR BET-Z ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO. BET-Z HAD SAVED IT.
LEX: It was a it was a PS to a note, I don't know what the note was probably stuff about the bar and I said "happiness is having a boss that has not only a box of wax lips but also a box of wax fangs both next to a pirate hat. Awesome." And if you went upstairs in this bar right now, we have an entire room that is about half the size of this room that's just for costumes and decorations and toys basically.
SARAH: BET-Z IS MORE THAN JUST LEX’S BOSS. THEY’RE VERY CLOSE FRIENDS. BET-Z WAS THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES AT LEX’S FIRST WEDDING.
LEX: ….it was kind of a New Orleans style wedding and I Love New Orleans and she had like a ridiculous hat and a like marching cane. And so she basically led the wedding party down the aisle. You know, just announced the party and just kind of made sure everything ran smoothly.
SARAH: BET-Z IS OBVIOUSLY EXTREMELY CHARISMATIC. AND THAT HAS HELPED HER AS A BAR OWNER.
LEX: She can get along with literally everybody and that's one of the biggest things I think made this bar successful. It is a lesbian bar always primarily that but from the get she just always wanted everyone to be welcome here and that’s the model of the bar.
SARAH: AS A RESULT, LEX ISN’T THE ONLY BARTENDER TO HAVE HAD A LONG CAREER AT WALKER’S PINT.
LEX: So whenever a bartender would leave, they'd get a plaque.
SARAH: SHE’S REFERRING TO A SET OF WORN, METAL PLATES SCREWED INTO THE TOP OF THE BAR. MOST OF THE PLAQUES HAVE THE NAMES OF FORMER STAFF MEMBERS. BUT THERE AREN’T EVEN THAT MANY. BECAUSE WHEN PEOPLE GET HIRED AT THE PINT, THEY TEND TO STICK AROUND.
LEX: At this point now it's the original staff that tended bar here and everyone always left them good terms. It was either them leaving to like move away and go do something else. So she just used to put plaques on the bar.
SARAH: THERE ARE ONLY TWO PLAQUES NOT DEDICATED TO STAFF MEMBERS…
LEX: there's one dog that passed away. He's on one of the plaques, Mighty Mac.
SARAH: AND THEN THERE’S SARA
LEX: she lost a bet or Bet-z lost a bet to her. And Sarah got a plaque on the bar as it says world's Sara Pier world's greatest customer.
SARAH: PAST THE BAR, LEX LEADS US TO THEIR HUGE OUTDOOR SPACE.
SARAH: This is gigantic.
LEX: Yeah so, this was fairly recent, we extended this.
SARAH: THE PATIO IS COVERED, AND LIT WITH STRING LIGHTS. BUT SINCE COVID THEY HAVE ALSO SET UP TABLES ON A BIG FENCED IN LOT, CONNECTED TO THE PATIO.
LEX: So yeah this is what I call the prison lot, because when she first put it up there was no barrier on the fence, there was just a fence in this lot. So, it was like a prison lot. She hates when I say that.
SARAH: And lovely port-a-potties out here.
LEX: We have the cleanest port-a-potties you’ve ever seen in your life, they get cleaned every week. It’s actually pretty impressive.
SARAH: Cool.
SARAH: INSIDE, THERE’S A SIDE ROOM IF YOU WALK PAST THE BAR. IT’S A GAME ROOM OF SORTS, BUT THEY GOT RID OF THEIR POOL TABLE TO MAKE SPACE DURING COVID.
TWO DIGITIZED DART MACHINES REMAIN, AGAINST THE BACK WALL.
LEX: Yeah, so we have Dart league back here so there's probably...20 bars. so it's the gay Dart league but it's not all gay bars.
SARAH: BET-Z IS VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THE DART LEAGUE. SHE’S ALWAYS BEEN INVOLVED IN SPORTS. SHE PLAYED GROWING UP, ALL THROUGH COLLEGE, AND EVEN AS AN ADULT
BET-Z: I played on like sports teams, women's, you know, Football League and softball league.
SARAH: SO BET-Z DEVELOPED A BIT OF A REPUTATION AS A SUPPORTER OF LOCAL SPORTS TEAMS…
KELSEY: A couple of my friends and I were trying to play on Basketball League, and we needed to get a sponsor.
THIS IS KELSEY, SHE’S A REGULAR AT WALKER’S PINT.
BACK WHEN SHE WAS STARTING A BASKETBALL TEAM, EVERYONE TOLD HER TO GO TO BET-Z FOR SPONSORSHIP.
KELSEY: I was like, Okay, I didn't know her very well at the time, but well enough to ask her. And she was like, yeah, of course, I'll sponsor but in return, you have to create a team for our darts league. And I was like, done. Never had played darts before, certainly not competitively, either. And so that was kind of like the start, I feel like of really getting to know her.
SARAH: AND BOTH KELSEY AND BET-Z STILL PLAY IN THE DART LEAGUE TO THIS DAY.
KELSEY:…So we'll get together on Wednesday, and it's cool, it's either at the pint, or it will rotate to some of the other bars in the in the neighborhood,
SARAH: THE LEAGUE IS ACTIVE 9 MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR. AND BET-Z NEVER MISSES IT.
LEX: she's always here on Wednesdays, that's her party day, she'll come down play darts.
SARAH: THAT WAS LEX AGAIN. AFTER OUR TOUR, RACHEL, JEN AND I SAT ALONG THE BAR, AND SHE TAUGHT US HOW TO PLAY BAR DICE.
LEX: So this is literally you can go to any bar in the state of Wisconsin and say, I wanna play bar dice, it's going to be this game, maybe a little bit different rule, like little certain things and be different, but it's generally the same. If you guys are gonna play, all I need to know is that if you lose, you're buying us all shots. So that's the most important thing to accept to accept this.
SARAH: I’m not buying shots for those guys.
LEX: That’s ok I’ll buy their shots.
SARAH: BASICALLY, ON THEIR TURN, EACH PLAYER ROLLS FIVE FIVE DICE ON THEIR TURN. YOU CAN SWAP OUT SOME DIE AND RE-ROLL LIKE IN YAHTZEE. AFTER EVERY ROUND, THE PLAYER WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER IS ELIMINATED, AND THE LAST PERSON LEFT BUYS THE SHOTS.
BUT THERE’S NO MATH INVOLVED IN CALCULATING YOUR SCORE. THAT WAS THE CONFUSING PART. FOR ME AT LEAST.
LEX: it's just the number of die. So no, no, cuz that would be 25. That's No, man, no, this roll right here would be called four or five. Or you can say at 45. Yeah. So just the number of guys. So if you had another five, this would be five 5s, or 55,
SARAH: I WAS REALLY CLOSE TO LOSING. BUT LUCKILY, RACHEL HAD A SERIES OF UNLUCKY SHAKES.
LEX: Look at that. 36, see, so we have the sponsor here.
RACHEL: Ok…
SARAH: WHILE LEX WAS REACHING FOR THE DICE, I NOTICED A TATTOO ON HER ARM.
SARAH: What's the 12%? Is that what it says?
SARAH: THE TATTOO JUST SAYS 12-PERCENT, IN A THICK, DARK FONT.
LEX: Yes, I had a ruptured brain aneurysm in December of 2019 while I was actually working here, so Bet-Z owes me for life. I almost died for her bar. … This is the chances I would have survived and not been borked.
SARAH: WHEN IT HAPPENED, LEX DIDN’T REALIZE AT FIRST THAT SOMETHING WAS VERY WRONG.
LEX: I was pulling a double and had the worst headache of my life. Thought it was you know, what I heard migraines were like and went to the clinic the next day. They gave me a shot for migraine but highly recommended I go get a CT at the hospital and go to the ER. So I went and took my god kids to watch the newest Star Wars movie with I now realize a brain bleed.
SARAH: FORTUNATELY, SHE DID GO TO THE ER THE NEXT DAY
LEX: they were like, Oh shit, your brain is bleeding. And I had a craniotomy and now there's a clip in my head.
SARAH: LEX’S DOCTORS WERE SHOCKED SHE SURVIVED
LEX: I didn't realize at the time how that this was the case because the doctors don't want to freak you out, I'm assuming. So it wasn't till like weeks after that. I, when I went for follow up visits, And they're like, oh shit. Then you really realize it when you go to like other doctors in the future, and they're like, wait, what happened to you? And they just don't believe you initially.
SARAH: AFTER HER SURGERY, LEX WAS HOMEBOUND FOR ABOUT 3 MONTHS.
LEX: And then I came back to work in March of 2020. And you know what happened after that. So I was at work for about two weeks then right back home for another year. Um, so yeah, it was a wasn't my favorite year, but I didn't die. So maybe it is my favorite year. It's hard to say.
SARAH: BUT SHE ALSO GOT ENGAGED THAT YEAR TO HER CURRENT FIANCE. IT HAPPENED IN HER HOSPITAL ROOM.
LEX: I had plans to propose at my parents house like Christmas Eve. I love Christmas. And I had the ring and everything already and I had to have my family bring it up in the hospital because it was like, I could die. So let's get this proposal over with before it happened So yea we got engaged at the hospital. I kind of flopped out of my hospital bed and crawled over to her while she was sleeping the chair next to me. Like it wasn't as a romantic proposal as I'd hoped it to be. But yeah, she said yes. Probably because she felt pressured.
SARAH: LEX’S FIANCE ACTUALLY WORKS AT WALKER’S PINT AS WELL.
LEX: She's far more delightful than I am.
SARAH: AND WHEN LEX HAD HER ANEURYSM, THEIR WHOLE COMMUNITY STEPPED UP TO HELP.
LEX: I still have weeping fits about the amount of support I got. Yeah an unbelievable amount of support I got. It’s overwhelming, I’m a very lucky human being for the people I have in my life.
SARAH: BRAIN SURGERY IS INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE. AND THOUGH LEX HAD INSURANCE, SHE ALSO HAD TO TAKE MONTHS OFF OF WORK TO RECOVER.
LEX: My other very good friends started a GoFundMe page because I don't have money for brain surgery. … She had a fundraiser for me, Bet-z did. It was kind of like going to your funeral while you're still alive was what it felt like.
SARAH: BET-Z HAS ALWAYS MADE A POINT TO GIVE BACK TO HER COMMUNITY. WHENEVER THEY HOST AN EVENT - LIKE BAR OLYMPICS OR SOME SORT OF OUTING - BET-Z TURNS IT INTO A FUNDRAISER.
LEX: Alot of times, it's the Hope House down the street, which is a domestic violence shelter. …So kind of a wide variety of we've done some for Special Olympics, foster care…
SARAH: THIS PAST YEAR, BET-Z FOUNDED A NON-PROFIT CALLED THE FORWARD PLEASE PROJECT.
LEX: It's not a specific nonprofit, for one specific thing. It's essentially the same as what she's done with this bar for a bunch of years, just more formally, and hopefully making more money for these places as she goes along.
SARAH: AND REMEMBER ANNIE AND BECKY? WHEN ANNIE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER BACK IN 2004, BET-Z ORGANIZED A FUNDRAISER FOR BREAST CANCER RESEARCH. HERE’S BECKY.
BECKY: You know she specifically did that for Annie. And got, you know, a lot of people and we brought awareness to the entire group of women that was--there were probably 80 people in the room at this time and doing this charity event--
ANNIE: It was Susan G. Komen
BECKY: was it? Ok.
ANNIE: I believe
BECKY: And but you know, Bet-z just could get on the stage and put the microphone in her hand, and she's got people reaching in her pockets.
SARAH: FOR ANNIE AND BECKY, THE RELATIONSHIPS THEY HAD BUILT WITH BET-Z, HER PARTNER NIKKI, AND OTHER PEOPLE FROM WALKER’S PINT, REALLY HELPED THEM THROUGH THAT DIFFICULT TIME.
BECKY: we found very, a lot of solace in their, their friendships, they, they all they all came out and helped us with anything that we needed.
SARAH: WHEN ANNIE EVENTUALLY DECIDED TO SHAVE HER HEAD, A GROUP OF THEIR FRIENDS FROM THE PINT DID THE SAME IN SOLIDARITY. HERE’S ANNIE:
BECKY: Right there at the bar.
ANNIE: We had a head shaving party, and it was it was very helpful for me. Because, you know, it's a scary time. We all knew it was coming that I was you know, going to my hair was I was going to lose my hair and all the sudden one day it just was falling out. It was on my shoulders and I didn't want to eat with my hair anymore. I just said no time has come. She made a phone call. And that night, there was probably a dozen people that made it there. And we had a head shaving party. And I think there were five of us that had our heads shaved.
SARAH: ANNIE HAS BEEN CANCER FREE FOR 17 YEARS NOW. AND SHE AND BECKY STILL MAKE THE TRIP BACK-AND-FORTH TO WALKER’S PINT FROM FONTANA. BECKY’S USUALLY THE ONE THAT DRIVES.
BECKY: And that's just because in our regular life, whether we're going wherever we're going, I'm, I like to drive. And she doesn't mind sitting in the passenger seat seat. And taking a nap.
ANNIE: Yeah. On the way home especially.
BECKY: Yeah. … So that's just been our routine normally so that’s still the routine that we use when we go to Milwaukee, occasionally she will drive.
SARAH: ONCE THEY ARRIVE, BECKY AND ANNIE SAY THEY ARE SOME OF THE OLDEST CUSTOMERS THERE…
BECKY: I’m 65, I was 65 in February and Annie will be 65 in January
ANNIE: Right, will be.
SARAH: WHICH THEY SAY, ISN’T A BAD THING. ANNIE AND BECKY HAVE BUILT REALLY MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS WITH SOME OF THE THE YOUNGER GENERATION AT WALKER’S PINT.
BECKY: And it's nice, even today when we walk in people who we kind of know will recognize us and know who we are just by the fact that we've been there, coming there for so long.
ANNIE: Some of the younger ones, You know, it's unbelievable how many younger customers would say that their parents had kicked them out, might you know, I don't talk to my parents, they can't accept that I'm gay. And I think Becky and I would talk with them I mean sometimes about, you know, I'm sure they still love you, but they just can't accept it at this time, give them more time.
SARAH: BUT THEY DEFINITELY AREN’T THE OLDEST GENERATION HANGING AROUND THE PINT. BET-Z’S PARENTS, PAT AND BILL, ALSO COME BY EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE.
ANNIE: They're kind of like a generation and between us and Bet-z, right. Something like that.
BECKY: We're in between Bet-z.
ANNIE: We’re in between excuse me…
BECKY: So they're a little older than we are.
SARAH: AND LIKE ANNIE AND BECKY, PAT AND BILL OFFER SUPPORT TO THE YOUNG, STRUGGLING QUEER PEOPLE THERE. HERE’S BET-Z AGAIN.
BET-Z: They'd sit down and talk with customers, and people call them mom and dad, and some customers that had really bad experiences would talk to them. And you know, they'd feel better after talking to my mom, because she'd make them feel, you know, just like family and accepted and loved.
SARAH: AS ACCEPTING AS HER PARENTS ARE, BET-Z WAS STILL AFRAID TO COME OUT TO THEM BACK IN THE 90’S...
BET-Z: Well, it was actually when I was breaking up with my first girlfriend, and …And my mom said, well just come over and you know, we'll chat. And so we started talking. And she asked what was wrong? And I immediately start crying. I said, I can't tell you. And then she said, Well, do you want me to tell you? And I said, What the heck do you mean? And she's like, it's about your lifestyle, isn't it? And so, you know, something here all these years, I'm trying to, like, keep my true, true self kind of hidden, and she knows already.
SARAH: NOW, BET-Z’S PARENTS ARE SOME OF HER BIGGEST SUPPORTERS. WHEN THE PROPERTY OWNER OF WALKER’S PINT ASKED BET-Z IF SHE WANTED TO BUY THE BUILDING, SHE DIDN’T HAVE THE MONEY FOR IT AT THE TIME, BUT PAT AND BILL DID.
BET-Z: And so, I had a discussion with my family because I had just spent all my extra money buying out mu business partner,... And my, my parents actually bought the building. Because they knew how important that space was. And they didn't want that to go away for us. So over the years, you know, I've worked with my parents on that, building end of it.
SARAH: HER PARENTS DECISION - TO BUY THE BUILDING - HAS PLAYED A HUGE PART IN WALKER’S PINT’S ABILITY TO STAY OPEN FOR SO MANY YEARS.
BET-Z: I don't know what the future would have been, like, had we not purchased the building when we did. … Because the person that owned the building owned a lot of properties and other bars in Milwaukee. And, you know, sometimes when you get a space and it's successful, sometimes they'll want to take it back, or, you know, unload it to someone else that wants to run that space.
SARAH: GENTRIFICATION AND RENT INCREASE IS A COMMON REASON FOR LESBIAN BAR CLOSURE. HISTORICALLY, LESBIAN BARS ARE IN QUOTE-UNQUOTE “SEEDIER” NEIGHBORHOODS. AS THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS ARE GENTRIFIED, LESBIAN BARS, - ALONGSIDE RESIDENTS AND OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES - ARE PUSHED OUT.
I ASKED BET-Z WHAT ELSE SHE THINKS THE REMAINING LESBIAN BARS HAVE IN COMMON. WHAT QUALIFIES THEM ALL AS MODERN DAY LESBIAN BARS?
BET-Z: I think that all the bars on the list, you know, we've all had to, to constantly adapt to what society is throwing out at us.
SARAH: FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE MOST OBVIOUS CHANGES AT WALKER’S PINT OVER THE YEARS, HAS BEEN THEIR MOTTO.
LEX: It was lock up your daughters initially but, you know…
SARAH: THE BAR MANAGER AT THE TIME LITERALLY TRADEMARKED THE PHRASE “LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS.” BUT NOW, THEY HAVE A MUCH MORE APPROPRIATE MOTTO. IT’S JUST “BE NICE OR LEAVE.”
WHICH IS REALLY HOW, BET-Z HAS ALWAYS RUN HER BAR:
BET-Z: It’s a lesbian bar but you know, anybody and everybody comes in now. It’s not just solely women…like, if you're a straight boy, and you want to come in by yourself, you're more than welcome. You know, just don't be a horrible person. But just realize that you're in a women's space, ultimately.
CRUISING IS REPORTED AND PRODUCED BY RACHEL KARP, JEN MCGINITY, AND ME, SARAH GABRIELLI. OUR THEME SONG IS BY JOEY FREEMAN.
FOLLOW US ALONG ON OUR ROAD TRIP AND SEE PICTURES AT OUR WEBSITE: CRUISINGPOD.COM OR FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA @CRUISINGPOD. THAT’S C-R-U-I-S-I-N-G P-O-D. SPECIAL THANKS TO BET-Z, LEX, ANNIE, BECKY, AND EVERYONE WHO GAVE US THEIR TIME AT WALKER’S PINT.
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