I met Josie Carter for the first time on Thursday, May 11, 2006. Inside the M&M Club on Milwaukee’s North Water Street, longtime friends were reuniting for a week of remembrance and revelry as the bar’s beloved traditions were coming to an end. Last Call Week was filled with historic lasts—the last Sunday brunch, the last drag show, the last fish fry. Thursday was the last happy hour. After decades of serving up two-for-one cocktails, the M&M Club was hosting one last blowout.
What do you want to be remembered for? Being me. Being totally me.
— JOSIE CARTER, MAY 2011
The M&M opened on July 4, 1976, at the peak of gay liberation, and was known for its revolutionary spirit for the next three decades.2 At that time, the Historic Third Ward was not considered a reputable neighborhood; in fact, the Milwaukee Common Council was actively debating a proposal to rezone the area as a “combat zone” for adult bookstores, peep shows, and other adult-themed businesses.3 The M&M Club joined a growing number of gay bars in the area—such as the River Queen, Factory, and Wreck Room—and quickly won the loyalty and love of the gay community. It was one of the few spaces in the city where gay men and women could mix comfortably and freely; rather than being a men’s bar or a women’s bar, the M&M Club was everyone’s bar. In fact, visiting and local celebrities frequented the bar on a weekly basis. In 1984, the M&M Club joined the trend of opening its long-boarded windows to the street. No longer hiding behind plywood shutters, M&M customers could now proudly and openly be seen.4 Today this might seem like common sense, but at the time it was a bold act of defiance.
Now, after thirty years, this landmark bar was closing, and an extended family of locals had come out to pay their final respects. I wasn’t exactly a regular, but I happened to live nearby. If ever there was a time to appreciate history as it was disappearing before our eyes, this was it.
I’d just started writing history segments for local LGBTQ media outlets, including Queer Life News and QUEST Magazine, driven by a desire to explore and understand the hidden history I had never been taught in school. I wasn’t alone in my fascination. The history segments seemed to resonate with readers, and people were beginning to recognize me in public.
That Thursday night, the M&M Club was dark, smoky, and crowded to capacity. I was making my way toward the bar when an older gentleman spotted me
