The Back Door

About The Back Door

Bloomington's one and only dedicated gay bar sits tucked in an alley behind the courthouse square, and it's been holding down the scene since 2013. Lesbian-owned and fiercely community-driven, The Back Door packs its calendar with drag shows multiple nights a week, karaoke, trivia, line dancing, burlesque, and open stage nights that pull in everyone from IU students to Bloomington lifers. The dog-friendly patio is a local favorite in warmer months, and the bar offers monthly free HIV testing through community health partners. Esquire named it one of the best gay bars in America, and for a 50-mile radius in southern Indiana, it's the only game in town — which makes it feel less like a bar and more like a living room for the entire local queer community.