MILWAUKEE — Right at 400 North Plankinton Avenue is where the popular gay bar once stood.
"The Black Nite as a building may have been erased but the events that transpired there certainly left their mark," said Brice Smith, the executive director of LGBT milWALKee.
On Aug. 5, 1961, a date that's known as the 'Black Nite Brawl,' is when history began to change for the LGBTQ+ community.
"A group of Navy trainees went to the Black Nite on a dare. They knew it was a gay bar. The sailors started a fight because they were denied entrance into the tavern," explained Diane Buck.
According to historical experts, the sailors left but eventually came back to the bar with backup. But those inside, including Josie Carter, a drag queen who led the uprising, were ready to fight.
"When they came back, Josie had told everyone, she rattled the community, and they were ready for them. They said no, not here, not tonight, we have had enough," said Smith.
Members of the Wisconsin LGBTQ history project say the uprising triggered a chain reaction of sociocultural changes in Milwaukee for the LGBTQ community, eight years before the Stonewall riots ever took place.
That's why advocates were thrilled to learn Wednesday that the proposal to recognize the Black Nite's location, which was torn down in 1966, as a historical landmark in Milwaukee, is moving forward.
"The struggle that the LGBT community had before today is real and today we are remembering it," said Milwaukee County Supervisor for District 15, Peter Burgelis.
"It just makes me very, very emotional. It's incredible," said Smith.
The Milwaukee County Landmarks Committee is expected to make a final decision on the proposal at a ratification meeting on Monday, Nov. 14.
