Milwaukee Since Stonewall LGBT Timeline

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Milwaukee "Since Stonewall" LGBT Timeline

Timeline at 2009 PrideFest

For several years, Milwaukee's annual PrideFest festival, a two or three day event on the city's lake-front festival grounds, has displayed a "Milwaukee LGBT Timeline". The following encapsulates the contents of that display. WisLGBT Sidebar: PrideFest History displays

Pre-Stonewall

  • Private house parties and bars are the primary social outlets for Gays and Lesbians.
  • The Mint Bar opens in 1949 and survives until 1986.
  • 1950’s Milwaukee - The Riviera is a popular gay bar.
  • The River Queen opens in 1960, closes in the late 1970’s.
  • The Fox Bar on south Plankinton was the hot spot circa 1964. Now the freeway covers that spot.
  • Your Place opens in 1965.
  • The Nite Beat welcomes stone butches and their femmes.
  • This Is It opens in 1968 and is still open today.
  • Adrian Ames, the “Million Dollar Drag Queen”, performs in Milwaukee bars.
  • The Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel routinely publish the names of men arrested on “deviate” sexual conduct charges, leading to the suicide of at least one man.

1970

  • The Gay Liberation Organization and the Gay Liberation Front, Milwaukee’s first gay groups form. In November GLO sponsors the first gay dance in Milwaukee.
  • August 26, 1970, The first Women’s Strike Day holds parade down Wisconsin Av. Chants include “ 2-4-6-8 Gay is twice as good as straight.”, and “Ho-Ho-Homosexual, the ruling class is ineffectual”. Amy K. gets busted for portraying Uncle Sam being gunned down by Vietnamese peasant women. An insider gets a protest group into the Milwaukee Journal newsroom where a statement is read.
  • Performers Mama Rae and Tiger Rose help start the Miss Gay Milwaukee Contest, forerunner of the Mr. & Miss Gay Wisconsin Pageant.
  • The Gay Liberation Front leads occupation of the UWM Student Union during a student strike.

1971

  • The GLO, fearing it would be confused with the more radical GLF, changes it’s name to the Gay Peoples Union.
  • 30 members of the GLF hoist a gay liberation banner in A Vietnam Vets Against the War parade. The first Milwaukee parade in which all gays march openly (the=1970 march was for women). The Petite Bonbons march in radical drag.
  • Donna Burkett and Manoia Evans are denied a marriage license by Milwaukee County Clerk Thomas Zablocki. They file a lawsuit but withdraw it before the case is heard.
  • The radical weekly Kaleidoscope publishes a special issue on Gay/Lesbian activism.

1972

  • The Women’s Coalition is founded. Lesbians organize and participate inn Coalition groups including The Women’s Crisis Line, Grapevine,Hurricane Productions and Amazon magazine. Hurricane produced many memorable women’s concerts. Holly Near and Margie Adams were among the featured performers.
  • Dykes fight back against gay bashers at the River Queen and win.
  • Amazon newsletter begins publishing.

1973

  • The first Alcoholics Anonymous group for gays, the Silver Stars Motorcycle Club, and Dignity, a group for gay and lesbian Roman Catholics, all form in Milwaukee.
  • 50 people unfurl a “Gay Power” banner at the annual July 4th. Fireworks display.
  • Activists picket a production of Boys in the Band, calling it a a’stereotypical portrayal of the suffering, maladjusted homosexual.”

1974

  • Gay Peoples Union begins publishing GPU NEWS; Milwaukee Gay Guide.
  • The GPU Examination Center opens , becomes the BEST Clinic.
  • GPU member Paul Safransky is fired form his job for revealing his homosexuality. His legal case, though unsuccessful, is an early challenge to anti-gay discrimination.
  • More than 350 men and women attend the GPU Ball at the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee.

1975

  • GPU establishes a gay/lesbian community center, The Farwell Center, in a leased flat at 1568 N. Farwell.
  • G Milwaukee begins publishing.
  • The Army reserve discharges Miriam Ben-Shalom, claiming that she is unfit for service because of her homosexuality. Ben-Shalom launches a 15 year battle to win the right to serve her country.
  • GLIB begins publishing.

1976

  • To counter the anti-hate campaign of singer Anita Bryant, the Milwaukee Committee on Human Rights is created.
  • The Saturday Softball League is organized.
  • Gary’s dance bar opens (later to become Circus, then Club 219.)

1977

  • Sistermoon Feminist Bookstore and Art Gallery opens and becomes the city’s unofficial lesbian cultural center.
  • The athletic group GAMMA is founded. Robert (Bob) Moore and John Cowles are instrumental in contributing to its vitality.
  • The Counseling Center of Milwaukee sponsors “Freespace” for women considering their sexual orientation, thanks to Mary Palmer and Lynn Morgan.
  • The Milwaukee Police Dept., led by Chief Harold Brier, launches violent raids on gay bathhouses, resulting in dozens of arrests and angry street protests by the gay community.
  • Leon Rouse of the University of Wisconsin’s gay community gets student and academic committees in the UW system on record in support of policies forbidding ant-gay bias.
  • Milwaukee Calendar begins publishing.

1978

  • Gay Youth Milwaukee is founded.

1979

  • The Milwaukee chapter of Black and White Men Together, later renamed People of All Colors Together, is initiated.
  • Non Sequitor bar opens.
  • The Jazz Gallery hosts several events for lesbians and feminists.
  • Milwaukee gays and lesbians picket outside the movies Windows and Cruising, which are denounced for their defamatory images of gay people.
  • First national March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian rights.

1980

  • First report of what is now called AIDS.
  • Hotwire, (year uncertain), a magazine about women’s music, is published in Milwaukee by Dorothy Dean- the first such magazine in the world. Thought to have begun in the 1980’s and ran for about 5 or 6 years.
  • The Cream City Business Association, which consists of gay and lesbian business people and professionals is established. CCBA launches the Cream City Foundation which gives grants to gay and lesbian groups and projects.
  • Milwaukee hosts the first AA “Round Up” for LGBT Alcholics.
  • Leaping La Crosse News and Our Town begin publishing. GPU News ceases publishing.

1981

  • The Wisconsin legislature passes AB70, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodations, largely through the efforts of Leon Rouse and David Clarenbach. Wisconsin is the first state to adopt such a “Gay Rights Law”. (The bill is signed into law early in 1982.)
  • The Saturday Volleyball League forms.
  • Wisconsin Outdoor Women forms.
  • The Factory bar closes. Grand Avenue Pub and Factory-2 open.
  • The “Consenting Adults Law” decriminalizing private sexual conduct between consenting adults is passed by the state legislature.
  • Lesbian teams pretty much take over the Friday Night Softball League at Wick Field.
  • OUT! Newspaper begins publishing.

1982

  • Feminist Writer’s Guild, Milwaukee gay and straight writers.
  • Governor Anthony Earl appoints 14 men and women to serve on the Governor’s Council on Gay and Lesbian issues. During it’s 3 ½ year existence the Council initiates anti-gay violence investigations and works with state agencies implementing the “Gay Rights Law.
  • UWM’s Gay Peoples Union runs the film Dykes, Fags,& Poofers.
  • Ragg and Escape begin publishing.

1983

  • At least 8 new bars open in Milwaukee including Fannies, LaCage, and Boot Camp.
  • New Milwaukee Police Chief Robert Ziarnik meets with members of the gay and lesbian community, giving them hope that the “bad old days” of Chief Harold Breier’s reign are over.
  • Barbara Cayle and Kim Bartels begin the Women’s Music Radio Show on WMSE 10:30pm –Midnight.

1984

  • October 1, 1994 P.T.A. Dinner Club (Patience, Tolerance, Acceptance)

1985

  • A woman lost her job of 5 years after holding her girlfriend’s hand on her lunch hour, (The Boston Store, Grand Avenue location).

1986

  • The Fest City Singers is established.
  • January, The Milwaukee Aids Project is spun off from the BESTD Clinic with support from the Cream City Business Association and the Cream City Foundation and begins serving people with HIV and AIDS.
  • The Galano Club, a coalition of 12-step groups dealing with issues of addiction and dependency among gays and lesbians is initiated.
  • Lesbians of Color and Club Muse, a social club for gays and lesbians of color forms.
  • Lambda Rights Network, a political action group is founded.
  • Grapevine softball team begins.

1987

  • Wisconsin Light starts publishing.
  • Tri-Cable Tonight, a public access cable program produced by and for lesbians and gays begins airing. The program is founded by Mark Behar and Bryce Clark and largely funded by Cream City Foundation.
  • New Beginnings and Feminist Voices begin publishing.
  • At least 9 new bars open this year but none survives even 10 years.
  • Cream City Chorus forms.
  • Black and White Men Together (BWMT) Milwaukee hosts the National Convention, NABWMT in July.

1988

  • MAPFEST 1988, Labor Day weekend, a fund raising festival to support the Milwaukee AIDS Project (MAP)
  • The Triangle and Club 94 bars open.
  • Wisconsin adopts hate crimes legislation providing enhanced penalties for those convicted of crimes motivated by bigotry, including prejudice based on sexual orientation. The U.S. Supreme Court sustains the law and it becomes a model for similar laws in other states.
  • First Annual Milwaukee Gay & Lesbian Film & Video Festival is held.
  • First Pride Event held at Mitchell Park. It included a softball tournament and picnic.

1989

  • The Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee (LAMM), ACT-UP Milwaukee and Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians (PFLAG) form.
  • Marquette students fight the administration’s attempt to infringe on their freedoms by forming REASON, Rights and Equality for all Sexual Orientations Now.
  • Flaunting It the first National LGBT Graduate Student Conference at UWM. Organizers, Thomas Piontek and Cheryl Kader.
  • After an attack by politically correct lesbians at the Barrymore Theatre, Doreta Munson and Sharon Daritt form DAMES, Dykes Against Minority Erotic Supression, a womyn’s leather club.
  • First “official” Milwaukee Pride March held. It began on 2nd. St., to City Hall and then a rally at Cathedral Square.
  • Among Friends begins publishing.

1990

  • Cream City Squares (square dancing) and Shoreline Milwaukee (country-western dancing) form.
  • Out to Brunch Club starts for lesbians, a monthly gathering at people’s homes, potluck.

1991

  • Murders committed by Jeffrey Dahmer shock the community and lead to demands for reform of the Milwaukee Police Dept.
  • Gary Hollander appointed to the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission in Police-Community Relations following the Dahmer murders.
  • The Milwaukee School Board approves watered-down measures in support of gay and lesbian teens after 1,000 fundamentalists pack a board meeting.
  • The Milwaukee chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans forms.
  • Someone was “outed” at their job with what is now the U.S. Bank in Milwaukee. The outcome; they were told that they would never get a promotion.
  • The Sherman Park Rainbow Association is founded.
  • AfterWords Bookstore and Espresso Bar, later renamed Outwords opens.
  • “Tina” Terry is shot to death in her north side bar, a haven for African American gays and lesbians.
  • Steam and Uptown Downtown begin publishing.
  • Positive Health, an AIDS Clinic opened at Sinai-Samaritan by Aurora Health Care.

1992

  • Mayor John Norquist stuns the gay and lesbian community by vetoing a $5,000 allocation of City Festival Funds for PrideFest. Dan Fons and Patrick Flaherty arrested protesting Mayor Norquist’s veto at the city’s press clubs ‘birthday party”.
  • The Brand New Queer Program, a TV Show, later the Queer Program, debuts on public access cable.

1994

  • SAGE/Milwaukee founded January 8, 1994. Charter members include Rosemary Caravella.
  • A proposal for a Gay/Lesbian Studies certificate program is submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee administrators but becomes a political football, not officially approved for almost two years.
  • Quest magazine begins publishing.
  • Wisconsin representative Steve Gunderson becomes the first GOP congressman to come out. In 1996, GOP representative Jim Kolbe of Arizona follows suit.
  • Diverse and Resilient started as a program within Aurora Health Care serving youth.
  • Amigas Latinas, a group for lesbians of Latina heritage, is founded.

1995

  • Two influential Milwaukee AIDS activists/educators, Christopher Fons and Arnie Malmon succumb to AIDS complications.

1996

  • Milwaukee World Festivals Inc. agrees to lease the Henry W. Maier Festival Park to PrideFest for its 1996 celebration.
  • After a pledge of financial support from Ross Walker and Erv Uecker an organizational drive begins to establish a community center for the city’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities.
  • The Alternative Business Association forms.
  • Bi Definition founded, holding it’s first meetings at the BestD clinic.
  • Karen Gotzler loses a hard fought campaign to Milwaukee’s 3rd. District Alderperson and first openly LGBT City Council member.
  • Bette Midler’s sparkling presence draws record crowds and proceeds for the AIDS Walk Wisconsin.
  • Hotel Washington, a fabulous gay mega-plex in Madison burns, arson is suspected.
  • Gary Hollander denounced in the Wisconsin state legislature for “recruiting” LGBT youth.

1997

  • Rainbow Families Milwaukee begun with potlucks hosted in LGBT parent’s homes.
  • Hundreds attend the 10th. Anniversary black tie celebration held for the Wisconsin Light newspaper at the downtown Milwaukee Hilton Hotel. The $10,000 dollars raised is donated to the Cream City Foundation.

1998

  • The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center opens in the Downtown Mini Warehouse at 170 S. 2nd. St.
  • The city of Milwaukee institutes a Domestic Partner Registry for same-sex domestic partners led by a coalition called the Domestic Partner Task Force.
  • Tammy Baldwin, A Wisconsin Democrat becomes the first openly lesbian or gay candidate elected to the House of Representatives as a non-incumbent.

1999

  • Project Q, a drop in program for queer youth, forms.
  • House of Infinity, an organization for African American gay, bisexual and transgender men forms.
  • Plymouth Church a United Church of Christ church hires Andrew Warner, an openly gay man as Associate Minister.
  • State representative Tim Carpenter comes out.
  • Leonard Sobczak, an openly gay man, is appointed to the Fire and Police Commission by Mayor Norquist.

2000

  • Center Advocates, the equal rights arm of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center is launched along with it’s Equality Knocks campaign.
  • PrideFest hits record attendance of 18,604 over it’s 2 ½ day celebration in June.
  • The City of Milwaukee passes domestic partner benefits for same and opposite sex unmarried partners of city workers ina collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME DC 48.
  • Donna Utke, long time leader in Milwaukee’s lesbian community dies.

2001

  • Men’s Voices chorus group forms.
  • Diverse and Resilient, Inc., an organization supporting the healthy development of LGBT people incorporates as a separate 501. C.3
  • PrideFest runs up huge debt and nearly goes bankrupt. This changes in 2004 through the efforts of the Cream City Foundation, volunteers and generous donors.
  • UWM establishes LGBT Advisory Committee to monitor, advise, and advocate LGBT issues on campus.
  • Wisconsin Light newspaper ceases publishing after 15 years.

2002

  • Governor Doyle vetoes the Defense of Marriage bill. The only D.O.M.A. veto not to be overridden.

2003

  • In Step newspaper ceases publishing after 19 years, marking the first time that Milwaukee is left without a true LGBT newspaper in 22 years.
  • Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission holds hearings on the treatment of LGBT members of both depts. Result is a new policy to change the culture around diversity – Sobczak Commission Policy.
  • Edge Magazine begins publishing.

2004

  • In March the Republican led legislation begins the procesas of amending the state’s constitution to ban civil unions, domestic partnerships and gay marriage.
  • After more than a year with no LGBT newspaper in the state, two news periodicals start up in December: Queer Life News and Outbound News.

2005

  • Alliance School, a safe school for LGBT teens planned in Milwaukee. May 26, 2005 the Board of Directors for Milwaukee Public Schools approves a 5 year contract with the Alliance School. Doors will open August 1st.
  • The Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin and Lutheran Social Services are at PrideFest recruiting LGBT folks to be foster and adoptive parents.
  • Milwaukee Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf creates it’s first website.
  • Governor Doyle presents commendation to Gary Hollander for his work with LGBT youth, setting the record “straight”.
  • Broad Vocabulary, a book store opens in Bay View.

2006

  • The Alliance School graduates it’s first class of seniors June 1. 19 students walk the stage to receive their diplomas, many wearing rainbow tassels
  • Men’s Voices Milwaukee performs in “Just For Fun”, their 5th. Season spring performance.
  • Women’s Voices Milwaukee debuts.
  • Anti-gay Amendment defeated.
  • African-American LGBT leadership summit draws 50 participants. Sponsored by Diverse and Resilient, Conexos. The forum fosters networks of AA LGBT and other allies.

2007

  • Both Madison’s OutReach and Milwaukee’s Cream City Foundation celebrated silver anniversaries in 2007.
  • OutReach celebrated the 25th anniversary of the passage of Wisconsin’s first-in-the-nation Equal Rights legislation April 13 with several of those who help get Assembly Bill 70 passed in 1982 present, most notably co-sponsor David Clarenbach.
  • In Milwaukee, the Cream City Foundation marked its 25th year of charitable giving by holding a series of special events over the course of 2007. To kickoff its yearlong celebration Cream City Foundation hosted a Winter-Get-Away celebration at the Milwaukee Domes in February, and ended up with a cocktail party in the rotunda at City Hall that Fall.
  • Thomas (Tom) Boll dies after nearly a decade-long battle with kidney disease. Tom was one of the co-founders of the Milwaukee AIDS Project, which went on to become The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, and founded the Make a Promise annual fund raising dinner.
  • Terry Boughner, former co-publisher of The Wisconsin Light, dies. Having an MA in history, Terry was considered an expert on the Gay Holocaust in WW 11 Germany.
  • Barbara Gittings, gay rights pioneer dies at the age of 75 after a brave and lengthy battle with breast cancer. Gittings first came to the public eye in 1965 when she and a handful of gay men and lesbians held demonstrations outside the White House and Independence Hall. The demonstrations were some of the first in American history and sparked an era of gays coming out of the closet.
  • Eldon Murray, nationally recognized as a leader in the nation's gay rights movement, dies.

Explore the full web site documenting GLBT life in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, and all of Wisconsin at: http://www.WisconsinGayHistory.org

Source: All contents of this page copyrighted by Don Schwamb for the Wisconsin LGBT History Project. <comments />

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