Milwaukee has long been the traditional home of the state’s LGBTQ Diaspora. However, over the years our progress in the struggle for rights and acceptance has been such that whether in the Wisconsin countryside, or in many of the state’s smaller cities, life is not only livable for LGBTQs but offers many quality of life amenities once solely associated with Milwaukee or Madison. Take Appleton, or example. Lawrence College is located there and long been a bastion of queer inclusion. In 2006, the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center participated in a queer festival there. In 2019 Milwaukee-based capacity building organization Diverse & Resilient opened a resource and advocacy. The city recently scored a very respectable 74 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipality Equality Index, an annual assessment of the state of the nation’s cities vis-à-vis LGBTQ protections. The mayor’s office even has an LGBTQ Liaison.
Appleton was also the hometown of the infamous Republican drunk, former Senator Joseph McCarthy, who made his mark, as his ilk is wont to do, inciting hate. In his case, it was in the guise of the 1950s Lavender Scare, a right wing inspired purge of gays and lesbians from public service and the arts. Not surprisingly, despite his greatest claim to fame as a home-grown national embarrassment, the Fox Valley city’s favorite son still has his local fans.
So it was that one of them, local business owner Jamie Boyce, installed a changing display sign on the façade of a building he owns at 200 N. Richmond Street near downtown Appleton. Over the years, the sign’s messaging has been controversial, albeit hackneyed, hate speech, racist and otherwise. This time, along with McCarthy’s mug shot-like image, the message included a homophobic slur, “faggots.”
Hate Has No Home Here
Of course, complaints ensued. The city claimed it was powerless to force the sign’s removal of the sign. It complied with local ordinances and, of course, there’s the matter of the owner’s right of free expression. To its great credit, however, rather than do nothing, the City of Appleton erected a sign of its own in an adjacent parking lot. It proclaimed a competing message, “Hate Has No Home Here.”
A rally against this public display of hate and bigotry was held on Saturday last. Hundreds attended. It made national news.
For his part, when responding to questions about his motives, Boyce played dumb, saying “I have no homophobia whatsoever.” In fact, he played the poor misunderstood victim. As head-spinningly ironic as that denial might seem, it certainly fits the classic pattern we now know so well—commit the offense, feign oblivious innocence when confronted with the truth, and offer a mock apology. In other words, spinelessly lie. To be fair, by the time the community gathered to protest, he had changed the sign to a less offensive but equally ignorant message. Then, at the rally, he handed out flyers with the same slur
The lesson to be learned here is that hate and bigotry must always be confronted even if it doesn’t change the bigot’s heart. They are thirsty for attention and validation anyway. But ultimately, the message is that they are a minority and will be challenged. Thanks to the allied efforts of Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford, the city’s police force, Diverse & Resilient and all the hundreds of protesters for delivering that message.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, the State Supreme Court censored a county judge, who is white, for repeated use of the racial slur, the infamous N-word. She too claimed innocence and said she never intended “racial animus.” She has since resigned.
