District 202

2524 Nicollet Avenue (1992-1997), 1601 Nicollet Avenue (1997-2009), PO Box 8139, St. Paul (2010)

Minnesota’s first community center for LGBT youth was not the first space dedicated to its target audience in the Twin Cities. Club Vogue holds that distinction; it was a non-alcoholic dance club within the same building as Rumours and Innuendo in downtown St. Paul. Unfortunately, Club Vogue’s regulars were too rowdy for other businesses in the Rossmor, and the venture closed in 1992.(1)

Board members began assembling funds for the new youth center in 1991. They realized the plans with private donations, financial assistance from local churches, and a generous $20,000 grant from the Minneapolis foundation. Even before it opened its doors in December of 1992, Minnesotans were curious about District 202’s name.

According to a 19 year-old board member, the name did not have any significance: “There’s no reason for the name.” He said in 1992, “[someone suggested District 202] and we said ‘OK. Sounds hip. It’ll take on a meaning of its own.”(2) “District” opened with a library and meeting space—its creators intended to disseminate information about beginning a new life, as well as information regarding HIV/AIDS and safe sex. Queer youth remain susceptible to homelessness, drug abuse, and HIV/AIDs infections. The center later hosted gay proms as a counterpoint to the heterosexual-oriented theme of proms hosted by public and private school schools. District 202 moved to a new space close to Stevens Square in 1997.(3) This space served the organization for more than ten years, with the helpful addition of a non-alcoholic bar and trans-friendly restrooms. Times changed by 2009—Gay-Straight Alliances, the internet, and general social acceptance have positively changed the experience of queer youth. District 202 closed the center shortly before the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots—the organization is now in a “cocoon” stage and will re-emerge better suited to the new needs of LGBT youth.

Program from District 202's first queer prom, 1994. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.

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(1)Southgate, David. “New Bars Open in St. Paul,” Equal Time, 4/24-5/8, 1992 (2)Southgate, David. “Youth Center to Open Dec. 1.” Equal Time, 10/23-11/6, 1992. Front Page (3)“Gay Youth Center Gets New Space for Old Goals.” The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 5/24/1997

Part of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-1969), (1969-2010)