Photo Credit: Jean-Gabriel Fernandez
The rainbow crosswalk at Cathedral Square.
On March 1, President Joe Biden proclaimed March as Women’s History Month. This recognition of women’s contributions to the nation has been officially celebrated for over 25 years. In the spirit of inclusion, the specific achievements of the women’s community in the struggle for LGBTQ equality and thereby toward the greater goal of universal civil rights must also be celebrated.
Whether cis-lesbian or transgender, Milwaukee’s historical record of women’s contributions to this cause is not as well documented as it should be. Some information and biographies may be found on the Milwaukee LGBT History website and UWM’s LGBTQ Archive. However, the most thorough available account of Milwaukee’s lesbian history may be found in R. Richard Wagner’s Coming Out, Moving Forward: Wisconsin’s Recent Gay History. In it, the author recounts the earliest days of Cream City’s lesbian activism. Beginning well before the creation of LAMM (Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee) in 1989, personalities like Donna Utke set about to organize and empower local lesbians through their engagement within the Gay People’s Union nearly two decades earlier. With the creation of LAMM, even greater strides were made in the liberation struggle. Readers will no doubt be surprised at the extent of its impact on the progress of Milwaukee community life.
Another resource of Milwaukee lesbian history may be found in “Amazon—Milwaukee’s Feminist Press”. Published from May 1972 to spring of 1984, the magazine is archived in the holdings of UWM Special Collections Department with issues accessible online.
Broad Spectrum of Engagement
Some of the many women activists who contributed to our city’s history have been recognized by this newspaper through its annual LGBTQ Progress Awards. Established in 2006, that prestigious citation has been bestowed on women who have made significant impact on the advancement of LGBTQ rights and equality. They represent a broad spectrum of engagement from the arts to politics and from education to community health. Some are leaders but many are simply part of the tapestry, unsung heroines committing their talents, personal conviction and resolve to the greater good.
Among them is inadvertent marriage equality advocate Donna Burkett, who, half century ago, in 1971, with her partner Manonia Evans, went to Milwaukee’s City Hall simply to apply for a marriage license and was refused. She sued, only to have her case dismissed on a technicality. In the field of LGBTQ health and activism are Brenda Coley and her partner Sandra Jones as well as Cathy Arney, a pioneer of community mental health and Tanya Atkinson, advocate for family health. In education, Tina Owen-Moore established the Alliance School as an MPS charter school for bullied LGBTQ-identified students. Poet and activist Carmen Murguia and the lesbian musical duo, Mrs. Fun, received their awards for their contributions to the arts. Ellen Kozel founded Veterans Do Ask Do Tell (later Veterans for Diversity), an organization that helped veterans access benefits, that also raised broader community awareness of veterans’ issues. Karen Gotzler won the award for her long history of activism as a co-founder of the Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee in 1989, and as Milwaukee’s first out LGBTQ candidate for the city’s Common Council in 1996, among her many other community leadership roles.
Young women have also been recognized. DeShanda Williams and Adrienne Strelchek received their awards for their work with Pathfinders’ homeless LGBTQ youth program. Celeste Guse garnered hers for engagement with her high school Gay-Straight Alliance and Courage MKE.
These are but a few of the dozens upon dozens of lesbian and transgender women whose history making roles have positively shaped not only their specific community but also that of all LGBTQs and, by extension, of the broader Milwaukee population. Many more will eventually be officially recognized. Others will remain anonymous by the sin of oblivious omission or their own intent. All deserve our gratitude. Their inspiring history has ultimately made ours.
