Wisconsin's oldest gay bar, co-owned by Trixie Mattel, has now closed

On Sunday, Schneider also shared a personal message on social media recalling his own experiences at This Is It! and processing the loss of a historic venue that he had been committed to for 15 years.

Schneider's personal statement read:

"On November 8th, 2010 I worked my first shift at This is It!, and what a journey it's been since! As you may have heard, that journey has come to an end. The bar has closed permanently as of today.

Losing an institution like This Is It! is shocking and surprising. Let it be a reminder to continue to support local businesses however we can. We are all at risk in this unstable world. Sentiment, nostalgia, and memories don't pay the bills.

The bar had been struggling for some time. After I went all-in on the expansion in 2019, the bar was forced to shut down for COVID. This nearly forced us to go under, but we survived. We were then challenged by endless annual construction - the streetcar, park upgrades, utilities, and the other projects beyond our control. We also have had no neighbors for nearly all the time. We never had an opportunity to fully recover.

Last year's closure of our street and sidewalk for nearly 8 months was something the bar did not ultimately survive. I held on as long as I could. We did our best, and we tried. I have given This Is It! my blood, sweat, tears, and every last dollar I had to try and keep it afloat. I gave the bar my all — literally everything — and I am proud of that. I just wish it was enough to keep us open.

I don't know what's next for me. I'm nervous to start over. Closing the bar was never part of the plan. After being so dedicated to something, it's difficult to conceive of what's next - but I remember that adversity rapidly reminds us of our strengths. Being so completely immersed in the bar and nightlife culture, I have forgotten many of those strengths, my accomplishments, and the experience that allowed me get where I am. I look forward to rediscovering these parts of me.

I am also thinking a lot about the people that I've worked with up until today. It weighs heavy with me. Their worlds have been upended by the closure too, so please support them however you can. I am eternally grateful for all of them, and owe them so much.

In closing, I wish all the best to our queer community, our performance community, our staff at the bar over the years, and to our loyal patrons who kept us going - even when things got rough. You were the magic of it all for me. I'll be seeing you. Thank you."

One day later, rumors and speculation ran wild not only between locals, but also through social media due to the venue being co-owned by Trixie, one of the most popular and successful drag artists of all time.

Schneider responded with another statement, shared on Monday, March 10, elaborating on the reasons why This Is It! closed:

"Ok… Here's the tea… There is none. The money ran out. I closed suddenly because we needed to make sure we had enough money to pay the staff for the hours they worked, it would be terrible of me to continue to operate and THEN not pay the staff. That would've been irresponsible.

The problem was systemic. I appreciate all of the calls for fundraising, but the truth is that business was already down 20% organically since the pandemic and because of inflation, that put the bar in a breakeven situation for several years. THEN last year's construction project pushed revenues to over 50% down, and that yielded a net loss for every month that we operated.

I put tons of my own personal money into the bar to try to keep us afloat and drained my personal savings completely. I never asked Trixie to put any money in because I saw what happened when I put all of my money in, it temporarily created a cushion, but the problem did not go away.

It would've been irresponsible of us to think that throwing more money at the problem would fix it."

In the same statement, Schneider also took time to address the optics of This Is It! closing despite its attachment to Trixie — whose successful career running companies like Trixie Cosmetics and the Trixie Motel, touring around the world, and starring in several TV shows and web series felt contradictory to these struggles of the bar.

Schneider wrote:

"We never called for fundraising or alerted people that we were struggling because guess what people would've said: 'Trixie has money, make Trixie pay for it.' Again, that's not smart business practice. And we would've been dragged for asking for help, or at the very least ignored. Kind of a catch 22 situation.

So, no conspiracies, no hidden agenda, just no money and tons of debt that added up on top of the debt that we had to assume during Covid in order to stay alive. When I expanded the bar, we forecasted and budgeted for a volume of business that would sustain operations and be profitable. In the one year that we had to use the new space before the shutdown, we were operating well above and beyond those numbers.

When I said that Covid changed everything, I meant it, because we never got back to those numbers. You can say that I was an irresponsible operator, but how in the hell could I plan for the last five years?

I know a lot of people have said, 'Oh it was busy in there, I don't understand why it closed…' to that I say it was busy from your perspective yes, not from a numbers perspective. And what days did you go out? Was it Friday and Saturday only because those days are always busy? The business never recovered after Covid, period — and trying to combat on top of that construction proved impossible.

Please understand that I am the last person to want to throw in the towel, and if it wasn't completely necessary, I wouldn't have done it. I hope that you can have peace with that. Staying open for a grand farewell would've been a logistical nightmare.

You may not agree with how things went down, but I did what I had to do, and I did everything I could do. I will always cherish my years at This Is It!. This is the last I will say on the matter."

In May 2021, Trixie shared her first YouTube video as the official new co-owner of the establishment.

Under the title "Trixie Learns Bartending at This Is It!," the Drag Race winner discussed her own experiences as a young gay person finding this gay bar in Milwaukee and understanding the importance of queer spaces like this.

Trixie went on to film another YouTube video at This Is It!, which was released in December 2022.

In the video, This Is It! co-owner — Trixie's business partner — Schneider made a special appearance to help explain certain regional differences in the making of a cocktail.

Last but certainly not least, This Is It! was also featured in the first season of Trixie Motel, which premiered on Discovery+ and became a Max original series over time.

During this segment for the renovation series, Trixie got to choose a "Signature Pink Drink" for the Trixie Motel with the help of fellow Drag Race winner (and also a Milwaukee, Wisconsin queen!) Jaida Essence Hall.

Following an incident that led to a broken window at the This Is It! bar in May 2024, Trixie issued a response published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which reads:

"This Is It! is not Milwaukee's favorite gay bar, it is Milwaukee's favorite bar. Everyone in town has a personal story or anecdote, or sometimes even a night they can barely remember. The exterior has rainbow accents that invite all walks of life into the space, and remind people to come in and act right. It reminds people that even if you're homophobic, not in this (expletive) building you're not."

Out has reached out to Trixie Mattel for comment.

This story is still developing…