Louis Stimac completely dedicated his life to community activism, equity, and advancement. He was Wisconsin's first true LGBTQ historian, teaching a ten-part course at the Farwell Center as early as 1975. And yet, his efforts are nearly forgotten today.

(The following are largely excerpts from a biography of Louis by Michail Takach for this website in 2023.)

Born in Ironwood, Michigan, Louis graduated from Eagle River High School in 1959 with intentions of becoming a priest. However, after attending two seminaries, he realized his true calling was elsewhere. Where others saw judgement, rejection, and condemnation in the Bible, Louis only saw lessons of love, acceptance, and salvation.

After moving to Milwaukee, Louis worked for the County Welfare department until his controversial firing in 1971. He lived at St. Nicholas Parish (1155 N. 21st St.) before moving to the Upper East Side, and later, Merrill Park. He served UWM for decades as an administrative assistant, dispatcher, and project manager for the Facilities department.

Stimac was a founding member of the Gay People's Union (GPU), and for years the director of gay counseling services at GPU. Responsible for filing the papers that led to GPU's non-profit status was no easy process in the early 1970s: Stimac found it difficult to find five people to commit to being members of the incorporation -- they were afraid that putting this in writing would create something that might be used against them later But still, he got it done.

History was Stimac's long-time passion. He personally researched, published, and taught gay history coursework at the Milwaukee Free University (and later, the GPU Farwell Center.) The course, which launched in fall 1975 with a single lecture, became the first formal education in LGBTQ history ever offered in the State of Wisconsin. The incredibly comprehensive curriculum- available for review in the UWM Special Collections -- covers four centuries of homosexual history, with mentions of Magnus Hirschfield, Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin, Frank Kameny, Morris Kight, Bessie Smith, Gertrude Stein, Gladys Bentley, Alfred Kinsey, Reverend Troy Perry, and other pivotal national figures.

Considering the limited resources of the era, his curriculum was shockingly all-encompassing, and surpasses most people's knowledge today. He included lessons on William Dorsey Swan, the ballroom scene, New York's Paresis Hall, the fairy movement, Dr. Frank Kiernan, Dr. Frank Lydston, Ma Rainey, the Pansy Craze, the Veterans Benevolent Association, the Boys of Boise case, the Jewel Box Revue, the post-WWII boom in urban gay bars, and more.

Stimac was somehow aware of local gender pioneers (including Frank Blunt and Ralph Kerwineo,) early gay hotspots (including the St. Charles and Royal Hotels,) the big-name drag stars of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1950s; and even a Grafton music studio that recorded gay-themed blues songs in the 1930s. His course also examined the language of gay people, including terms like "trick" and "lover" and how these deviated from heteronormative language due to the impossibility of marriage and impermanence of gay relationships.

Curiously, he does not include a history of the gay bars, nor any mention of the game-changing Black Nite Brawl of 1961. Upon closer inspection of Stimac's papers, it's easy to see why: he did not see gay bars as symbols of liberation. Gay bars were seen as self-imposed prisons that kept people out of sight, out of mind, and effectively destroying themselves while destabilizing any sense of community. Gay bars were symbols of an earlier, more oppressive time when they were the only outlet gay people had. They were beneath his notice.

Stimac asked the Milwaukee Journal to let him share his history lessons in a weekly column. Apparently, they weren't interested. Very little is known about his life after the Farwell Center closed in 1981 and Gay People's Union effectively dissolved a few years later.

Cancer claimed Louis Stimac on April 8, 1994. He was buried in Allouez Cemetery in Green Bay. Two months later, the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project was born at PrideFest 1994.

Stimac was a long-time employee of UW-Milwaukee-- so it's fitting that his papers have been preserved by the UWM Archives.

As a gay rights activist, Stimac was emboldened to confront religious intolerance, bigotry, and homophobia whenever and wherever he saw it. One can only wonder what he'd think of today's Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project. Hopefully we've made him proud.

Louis Stimac is buried in Allouez Cemetery in Green Bay.

In addition to the full biography of Louis by Michail Takach for this website in 2023, Takach wrote an earlier history of Louis in September 2022:

September 1979: "LGBT history" did not really exist as a national movement until the 25th anniversary of Stonewall in 1994. That massive celebration got people thinking -- and set forth a chain of events that led to the creation of the ONE National LGBT Archives and other history projects throughout the country (including ours!)

But, as usual, Gay People's Union - and Milwaukee -- were far ahead of the national movement. Louis Stimac of GPU was offering a course in gay history at the Free University as early as 1975.

In 1979, the Milwaukee Journal reported on his four-week "Gay American History" lecture series at the Farwell Center. To say this was a curiosity in 1979 is an understatement. Gay people have...history?

"It is difficult to compile a history of people whose particular way of life was for years considered a crime so horrendous that none dare speak its name," wrote Joel McNally of the Milwaukee Journal. "but that has been the project of Louis Stimac, a founder of the Gay People's Union."

"It is history filled with gallows humor, tragedy, and a lot of wry opinion. But it is documented, and to Stimac, that is important." "He refers to gays as the people of the shadows, who had their history denied and stolen from them. He feels it is important for gays to realize they were not alone and never have been."

The article mentions Milwaukee's 1890s reputation as one of the "capital cities of homosexuality" and the 1914 case of trans pioneer Ralph Kerwineo, who was arrested for marrying two women and living as a man, while genetically a woman himself. "Documented local history is scant and sometimes bizarre," commented McNally, "but the gays have been here longer than anyone might suspect."

Stimac shared-- and the Journal published-- the accounts of a senior citizen who recently attended the lecture. "After the class, he told us that he was in his early teens when he became aware of his homosexuality. He started going to Juneau Park to relieve his urge, because at that time, shortly after the start of the 20th century, Juneau Park was already known for its long reputation as a homosexual meeting place."

Louis Stimac, for years the director of gay counseling services at GPU, was also a long-time employee of UW-Milwaukee. He was a founding member of GPU and responsible for filing the papers that led to its non-profit status. This was no easy process in the early 1970s: raising money for gay rights was next to impossible, several law firms rejected GPU as they didn't "serve" gay people, and, worst of all, Stimac found it difficult to find five people to commit to being members of the incorporation -- they were afraid that putting this in writing would create something that might be used against them later But still, he got it done.

Stimac's papers have been preserved by the UWM Archives. History was one of his life long passions. One can only wonder what he'd think of today's Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project. Hopefully we've made him proud.