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Polysemy

The coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase

Mason Pippenger & Hannah Speer

            MUNCIE, Ind. - There’s an unassuming building on South Walnut Street in Muncie, Indiana. The windows are either boarded up or covered on the inside with thick, black curtains despite the golden letters that say “Come in as a stranger...leave as a friend,” printed on the glass.

            The only clue that gives away that the Mark III Taproom is a nightclub is the martini glass on its neon sign. The only clues that gives away that it’s a gay nightclub are the transgender pride flags raised above the exits and the rainbow coloring of the font symbols trailing a line down the entry door.

            Nothing gives away that it is the oldest gay nightclub still operating in Indiana.

The Mark III Taproom, established in 1968, has seen fifty years of queer culture in the midwestern United States - established pre-Stonewall, even - and lived to tell the tale. As the role of the nightclubs in queer communities shifted, so too did the role of the Mark III.

            Or perhaps not.

door.png
Front door of the Mark III Taproom
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