Gio’s

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Type: Queer Historic Place
Address: 155 Smith Street, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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This was the third and final location of Giovanni’s Room; its name being shortened to Gio’s in c. 2003. It was the longest running gay bar in Winnipeg when it closed in 2013, and has a very special place in my heart as the first gay bar I went to as a young adult.

Sources:
* http://uniter.ca/view/gios-closes-after-a-decade-downtown

Fun Facts

Giovanni’s Room was a licensed club with restaurant and bar for members of the Oscar Wilde Memorial Society. The original location (277 Sherbrook Street) opened in March of 1982, and was home to the Winnipeg Gay Community Centre which housed Giovanni’s Room, meeting rooms, office space, a library, reading room, and Gays For Equality Counselling Office. Membership was $2.00 per evening, or $10.00 per year.

Sources:
* https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A1242956
* https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3A1252

Location

155 Smith Street, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
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