G.G.’s

G.G.’s was a nightclub and restaurant operated by Bob Boyd from 1987 to 1989. Boyd had previously worked at Gravel Gerties, one of the few restaurants in Indianapolis that catered exclusively to an LGBTQ+ clientele. G.G.’s earned distinction for its numerous amenities, including a cabaret room, billiards room, and four bars, one in an outdoor patio space. The venue gained local renown for its dance floor, indoor light shows, dinner theater performances, and exotic dancers. The club drew large crowds to its Halloween masquerade balls, Thanksgiving buffets, Christmas parties, and New Year’s Eve galas. 

G.G.’s became synonymous with drag shows. Known as the drag bar in town, the venue consistently promoted drag performers, despite divisions within 1980s LGBTQ+ communities over drag and trans visibility. Trans and gender non-conforming bar patrons, then frequently referred to as “cross-dressers” and “female impersonators,” experienced exclusion from many of the era’s gay spaces. G.G.’s was a notable outlier. It hosted nightly drag performances featuring many of Indianapolis’s best-known performers, including Rikki Lee, Jackie O’Nasty, and Jenny Anythyme. 

Aside from drag shows, G.G.’s hosted an annual Miss G.G.’s and Mr. G.G.’s contest. It also sponsored a performer to compete against competitors from other local LGTBQ+ bars in the Miss Gay Indianapolis contest. 

G.G.’s helped bring awareness to social, political, and health initiatives for the LGBTQ+ community. In September 1988, G.G.’s hosted a four-day fourth anniversary conference for the Indianapolis and Louisville chapters of the National Association of Black and White Men Together (NABWMT), a gay, multicultural, anti-racist organization. From 1988 to 1989, G.G.’s underwent a year of financial and legal struggles, including alleged building-code violations, the expiration of the venue’s liquor license, and unpaid taxes and bills. Unable to surmount such obstacles, G.G.’s closed in 1989.