It’s been here and it’s been queer for 25 years now. Commemorating a quarter of a century this past October as Winnipeg’s longest continuously operated gay bar, Gio’s Club & Bar is also much more— it’s the heart of the Winnipeg and prairie LGBT community, smack in the heart of the city.

It all started back in 1982, when Chris Vogel and husband Richard North opened what is now Gio’s under the name Giovanni’s Room, taken from the James Baldwin novel—a story of homosexual love in a dangerous time. North had founded the Oscar Wilde Memorial Society, incorporated in 1980, which seeks to facilitate LGBT community pride and development; the Society not only provides event sponsorship and support, it provides a common meeting place for club members and guests—that is, Gio’s, which is one of only two non-profit gay clubs in all of North America.

Initially, the only partying at Gio’s was at best once a month in the form of licenced socials; these were held at the club’s original location on Sherbrook Street, in the 1905 Sildor Ballroom building (formerly the Normandie Ballroom). Despite rainwater leaking through the light fixtures, the location was renovated to include an LGBT lending library, resource centre and telephone line, with the annual membership fee (or non-member admission) being the princely sum of $2. The enterprise was not without its controversies, however; city officials would not allow signage with the word “community” on the grounds that Gio’s would be confused with existing community centres. The sign was changed to “Winnipeg Gay Centre,” but the membership hated the pigeonholing so much that Vogel had it painted over.

Eventually, the landlords decided to sell the property, forcing Gio’s to relocate in 1986 to a one-story building at 616 Broadway. In 1994, the club moved yet again, this time to the basement of the Happenings building at 272 Sherbrook—ironically, directly across from its original location. Finally, Gio’s found its present home at 155 Smith Street, in the former digs of Garbonzo’s, East Side Mario’s, Pomodori’s, and The Storm restaurants.   

What Bob Roberts, president of the Society, and the present nine-member board of directors don’t want is for Gio’s to be seen simply as a gay men’s bar; the diversity of membership embraces the entire LGBT community, Rogers says, and for that matter the board boasts one straight member. “We’re like the Legion, really,” he chuckles.