Cheri Becker moved to Madison to be closer to her mother. She became, instead, a matriarch of the city’s LGBTQ movement.

“Gay people need bars. Everybody does. Where else can we go to make friends?”

For more than a decade, Becker created spaces in Madison that welcomed, celebrated and embraced a growing LGBTQ community.

Becker died Jan. 10, 2026, at age 68. There will be no formal visitation or funeral services, but friends and community members are remembering a bold, pioneering woman who helped make Madison a better place to live, work, play and love.

Becker often said she moved to Madison to be closer to her mother, Bonnie. She quickly became part of the city’s emerging gay nightlife scene and, over time, a matriarch of the local community.

“My memories of Cheri Becker began at Going My Way in the late ’70s,” said B.J. Daniels. “She was the only person I knew who could do pop-and-lock dance moves. I’d never seen anyone dance like that. She was a hoot and a half. She had a booming voice and a loud, infectious laugh. She was one of my first lesbian friends.”

Back East (1984–1990)

After working at UniRoyal Tire in Stoughton and at several Madison bars and restaurants, Becker saved enough money to open a bar of her own. Following the passage of Wisconsin’s Gay Rights Law in 1982 and the Consenting Adults Law in 1983, Madison was widely seen as one of the best cities in the country for gay and lesbian people.

In 1984, Becker opened Back East at 508 E. Wilson St. with her partner, Ruth Sigel. The bar was located on a bustling nightlife block near the popular O’Cayz Corral. The space had previously housed Emily’s, a lesbian bar that lasted one year.

On July 23, 1985, Back East hosted the 219 Girls, including B.J. Daniels, Holly Brown and Ginger Spice. The bar oversold reservations beyond its 150-person capacity to raise funds for the Madison AIDS Support Network.

“Madison has never seen anything like this before,” Becker told the Capital Times. “This is a thrilling production with Vegas-style professionalism, outrageous costumes and over a dozen impressions of female stars. I’ve never seen drag like this before.”

In February 1987, Wisconsin State Journal reporter Sunny Schubert visited Back East.

“I’d heard Back East was a lesbian bar, and I envisioned something like Lysistrata,” Schubert wrote. “But Back East confounded all my stereotypes. It is not just a lesbian bar, but a mixed bar where gay men and women socialize together.”

Doug Fletsch, a bartender at Back East, shared a lighter anecdote with the paper.

“Whenever a certain cabdriver got out-of-town businessmen in his cab, he’d ask if they wanted to go to a bar with a lot of girls — and then bring them to Back East,” Fletsch said. “The joke quickly got old.”

Club 3054 (Back East II, 1989–1994)

After five successful years on Wilson Street, Becker relocated to 3054 East Washington Ave., briefly known as Back East II. In February 1990, InStep Magazine reported the business had been renamed Club 3054.

“Cheri and her staff have moved to a cavernous space with separate rooms for the main bar, big-screen TV, game room, pool room and a dance hall with its own service bar,” InStep reported. “Plans were already underway to carve out a basement Leather/Levi bar.”

Club 3054 enjoyed several years of steady business. The basement Leather/Levi bar — later known as Wings — became a regional destination. Customers recall passing through a bright, perfume-filled dance club to reach a dark, sexually charged space below, where patrons were offered plastic bags to store their clothes.

“I started Becker’s Babes drag cast in the early ’90s,” said Cass Marie. “My cheeks may or may not have been ink-stamped on the ceiling of Wings.”

Wings eventually drew scrutiny. Club 3054 was repeatedly targeted by the Madison Police Department with undercover investigations, raids and arrests. The city also cited the business for numerous code violations.

After an anonymous letter alleged Becker promoted public sex, police conducted a sting operation in spring 1994. Officers claimed to have witnessed unprotected sex at two events. The city declared Club 3054 a “disorderly house” and revoked its liquor license for 90 days.

The loss of income and negative publicity took a toll on Becker’s health and safety. She and her family received violent threats, and Becker was harassed and nearly assaulted in public.

The city’s actions were widely criticized. Capital Times editors called the episode a “needless public controversy.”

Becker denied the allegations.

“The truth is that Club 3054 has always encouraged safe sex,” she told the Wisconsin State Journal on May 21, 1994. “If undercover officers saw patrons violating our policies, we were not informed. We discourage it and disapprove of it.”

In a June 24, 1994, editorial, the Capital Times wrote the city’s actions amounted to a “horse-and-pony show that fanned all kinds of evil.” Alder Dan Waisman questioned the city’s approach.

“If the Madison Health Department did not believe it was serious enough to close them down, I’m not sure we had any business doing this,” Waisman said.

Becker remained determined to fight the charges, but the strain was mounting. Rumors that the anonymous witness was a customer — or even an employee — deeply wounded her.

In a June 1994 letter to InStep Magazine, Becker wrote: “Why in the world would a member of our own community try to do this to us? … We have achieved so very much in Wisconsin. Our brothers and sisters in Colorado and Washington would be elevated to have our freedoms.”

In October 1994, Becker surrendered her liquor license and moved to California. The building was sold to Ray Jacobson, who later opened an entertainment complex on the site. The property closed in 2002 and was eventually demolished.

Life beyond the spotlight

Little is known about Becker’s life after leaving Madison. Once deeply social, she became increasingly private.

She lost longtime companion Cindy Brinker in 2016 and her parents, Melvin and Bonnie Becker, in 2018. Becker retired to Loyal, Wisconsin, where she lived until her death. Friends remember her love of online gaming, where she earned a reputation as a “Solitaire shark.”

Though no longer in the public eye, Becker’s legacy endures.

“She was an energetic and creative entrepreneur who dared to push the envelope,” said Ricardo Gonzalez.

“Cheri was loud, proud and in charge,” Daniels said. “Short and stout, with a heart of gold.”

“Rest in peace, Cheri,” said Susan Breitbach. “You gave acceptance to a community when it was desperately needed.”