Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society Press
Just in time for LGBTQ History Month 2020, Wisconsin Historical Society Press has released Coming Out, Moving Forward, the second volume of R. Richard Wagner’s series on Wisconsin’s LGBTQ history. The first volume, entitled We’ve Been Here All Along, chronicled the stirrings of the state’s LGBTQ community from the end of the 19th century to the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. Volume II continues the narrative beginning with the post-Stonewall era and ending in 2000. Beyond its 500 pages, Wagner includes extensive appendix of LGBT elected officials, notes and index that make this work an indispensable asset to our understanding of our past.
Above all, Wagner tells the story of Wisconsin’s LGBTQ history since Stonewall as a successful political struggle. More importantly, the tsunami set off by Stonewall was one propelled by a spectrum of individuals whose names few of today’s generation would recognize. These are, however, the heroes who started grass roots organizations, wrote and distributed leaflets, then published newspapers; who lobbied and fund raised, and evolved into a revolutionary cadre of leaders.
Undo Negative Perceptions
Their actions took a variety of tactical strategies. One was to undo negative perceptions of gay people. In Madison when a local theater company staged Boys in the Band, members of the Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality (MAHE) picketed against the depressing depiction of gay life. Others included events and workshops intended to bring self-awareness and self-acceptance to the gay and lesbian population. Wisconsin’s first Gay pride event was held in Madison in 1970. The Gay Center opened in the early ‘70s as well. Their creation took the movement into a new stage of raising its social profile.
At the same time, in Milwaukee, the Gay Liberation Organization would evolve in the Gay People’s Union. The trajectory of the political effort to achieve equality continues upward from there. Like Madison, through the combined savvy media and a concerted effort by activists, Milwaukee’s community defines its political identity. Other cities follow suit. Then, Wisconsin’s gays and lesbians achieve a historic first for the nation: in 1982 Wisconsin becomes the first to enact a gay rights law.
Wagner also explores the gay and lesbian response to the AIDS pandemic. That history is of particular importance because the common cause of fighting the pandemic would galvanize an otherwise loosely allied body of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people into what we now call the LGBTQ+ community.
The book also covers Milwaukee’s explosion of LGBTQ organizations after Stonewall. Each of those groups has its own history. To explore those individually is beyond the scope of Wagner’s book. However, the unfortunate truth is that to research any particular organization’s story would be a frustrating task. Part of the problem is the lack of documentation from those early post-Stonewall years. UWM’s Golda Meier Library is home to the LGBT Archive, but, while it contains a broad spectrum of documents, there are major gaps. Those absences in our historic record need to be addressed.
Wagner’s history should motivate us to that end. In fact, in the book’s opening pages, the author exhorts readers not only to discover LGBTQ history but also demands we recognize its value. Coming Out, Moving Forward should be required reading for all of us but especially for those who aspire to leadership.
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