History of Gay and Lesbian Life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee & Wisconsin LGBT Timeline

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Jump to: 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020
 
Year(s) Major Events Organizations The Media Businesses Year(s)
Pre-Stonewall:
pre-1940
  • 1778 Lieutenant Gotthold Frederick Enslin is dismissed from the military after being found in bed with another soldier, making him the first known person discharged from the U.S. Army (then the Continental Army) for sodomy (homosexuality).
  • 1884 "The Only Leon" (Francis Leon) performs the first-known drag show in Milwaukee history. Leon, an internationally celebrated female impersonator, would later perform at local amusement parks and theaters before retiring to Chicago.
     
    		•
     
     
         		 Pre-Stonewall,
    pre-1940
    Pre-Stonewall:
    1940's
  • 1940’s World War II – Gays in Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe are forced to wear the pink triangle.
  • 1943 The military issues regulations barring gay men and lesbians from serving in the armed forces on the basis of their sexual behavior.
  • 1947 First U.S. Lesbian magazine, Viceversa, published.
  • 1948 First Kinsey report published; a later 1957 report speculates that 10% of population is predominantly homosexual.
     
    		•
     
     
  • Mint Bar opens 1949, survives until 1986
  • Kitty Williams House Tavern, a tavern that served a mixed clientele including gay men since the 1920s, lasts until 1943
  • Meanwhile, bars more openly serving LGBT people begin to be seen. The Royal Hotel Bar opens in 1945, and goes thorugh various namings (including Michelle's, Club 546, and The Stud Club) before it closes in 1968.
  • The iconic Mint Bar (1949-1986) opens, and will serve the gay community for 37 years.
     
    		•  Pre-Stonewall,
    1940's
    Pre-Stonewall:
    1950's
  • 1951 New York City: The Mattachine Society is founded to help homosexuals realize their collective histories and experiences.
  • 1952 New York: George William Jorgenson Jr. leaves the Army after World War II, and gets worldwide notoriety for undergoing sex reassignment surgery to become Christine Jorgensen.
     
    		•
  • Private house parties and bars are the primary social outlets for Gays and Lesbians.
     
    		•
  • 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.
     
    		•
  • 1950’s Milwaukee – Tony's Riviera (1949-1964, previously the Anchor Inn) is a popular gay bar.
  • Two iconic early LGBT-serving bars open, including White Horse Inn (1952-1965) and The Pink Pony (1952-1972).
  • The end of the decade sees several taverns that served a mixed clientele including gay men, close by 1960, including The Legion Bar, and the Red Room in the Plankinton Arcade.
     
    		•  Pre-Stonewall,
    1950's
    1961
  • August 5: Milwaukee experienced its own 'Stonewall' 8 years before the Stonewall Inn raid in New York City, when four homophobic sailors harassed the patrons of Milwaukee's Black Nite bar.
     
    		•
     
     
         		 1961
    Pre-Stonewall:
    1960's
  • Adrian Ames, the "Million Dollar Drag Queen", performs in Milwaukee bars.
  • Milwaukee Police Chief Howard Johnson (1957-64) is replaced by homophobic Chief Harold Breier (1964-84). Breier will lead a department riddled by prejudice and harassment of the LGBT community.
     
    		•
  • Private house parties and bars are the primary social outlets for Gays and Lesbians.
     
    		•
  • 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.
     
    		•
  • River Queen opens 1960, closed late 1970's
  • The mid-1960s sees the first openings of more mostly-gay bars, as 'mixed' bars that were previously the only option for gay men and lesbians gradually go out of business due to city progress. Previously known LGBT gathering places, such as The Fox Bar on south Plankinton, Wildwood (1949-1963), Tony's Riviera, White Horse Inn (1952-1965), Clifton Tap (1955-1965) and others close. For example, the Fox Bar, a hot spot for lesbians and gays since 1948, closes by 1965; the freeway now covers that spot.
  • Several popular 'gay' bars open in the 1960s: Seaway Inn restaurant and bar (1960-1972); Your Place (1965-1989); and The Nite Beat (1962-1968) welcomes stone butches and their femmes.
  • This Is It bar opens in 1968 on E. Wells Street. It is still open and remains very popular, even being doubled in size in 2019; it is the only LGBT bar remaining in the core of downtown Milwaukee.
     
    		•  Pre-Stonewall,
    1960's
    1969
  • June 28: A police raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City leads to four days of battle between police and angry gays and lesbians. The riots mark the birth of the modern gay movement.
     
    		•
     
     
         		 1969
    1970
  • August 26, 1970 - First “Women’s Strike Day” holds parade down Wisconsin Avenue. 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 woman. An insider gets group into Journal newsroom where a statement is read.
     
    		•
  • Performers Mama Rae and Tiger Rose help start the Miss Gay Milwaukee Contest, forerunner of the Mr. and Miss Gay Wisconsin Pageant.
  • The Gay Liberation Organization (GLO) and the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), Milwaukee's first gay groups, form.
  • In November, GLO sponsors the first Gay dance in Milwaukee.
  • GLF leads occupation of UWM Student Union during student strike.
     
    		•
  • The radical weekly Kaleidoscope publishes a special issue on Gay/Lesbian activism.
     
    		•
         		 1970
    1971
  • 30 members of the GLF hoist a gay liberation banner in a Vietnam Vets Against the War parade, the first Milwaukee parade in which Gays march openly.
  • Donna Burkett and Manonia Evans are denied a marriage license by County Clerk Thomas Zablocki. They file a lawsuit but withdraw it before the case is heard.
     
    		•
  • Milwaukee's GLO, fearing it will be confused with the more radical GLF, changes its name to the Gay Peoples Union, and begins publishing the GPU News.
     
    		•
  • Milwaukee's Gay People's Union (GPU) begins publishing 'GPU News' in October
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        GPU News (starting October)
     
    		•
  • Hunters Club, Castaways South, and Beer Garden among gay bars opened this year.
     
    		•  1971
    1972
     
  • The Women's Coalition is founded. Many Lesbians organize and participate in Coaltion groups: Womens Crisis Line, Grapevine, Hurricane Productions and Amazon magazine.
     
    		•
  • 'Amazon' newsletter begins publishing.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        GPU News
     
    		•
  • Wreck Room (popular levi/ leather bar) opens, survives until 1995.
     
    		•  1972
    1973
  • LGBT activitists burst into a session on adversive conditioning to “cure” homosexuality at the American Psychological Association convention in Montreal. A statement condeming this practice was read to the shocked attendees.
  • Homosexuality is removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental disorders.
  • 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 "sterotypical portrayal of the suffering, maladjusted homosexual".
     
    		•
  • The first Alcoholics Anonymous group for gays forms
  • The Silver Stars Motorcycle Club forms.
  • Dignity, a group for gay and lesbian Roman Catholics, forms.
     
    		•
  • 'Milwaukee Gay Guide' begins publishing.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        GPU News
    		•
  • The Factory (legendary dance bar) and Ten Hundred East bars open
     
    		•  1973
    1974
  • GPU member Paul Safransky is fired from his job for revealing his homosexuality. His legal case, though unsuccessful, is an early challenge to ant-Gay discrimination.
  • More than 350 men and women attend the GPU Ball at the Performing Arts Center.
  • The GPU Examination Center for VD, the precursor to the BESTD Clinic, opens on St. Paul Avenue.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        GPU News
    		•
  • Ball Game bar (1974-2012) opens in the site of two previous bars (Nite Beat and Castaways South), lasting s staggering 38 years.
  • C'est la Vie opens, lasts until 2008.
  • The Club Baths (1974-1988) opens, one of a nationwide chain of Club Baths that dominated the 'bath house' scene until the AIDS scare in the 1980s caused many bath houses to close.
  • The Park Hotel bar (1960-1974) and Jimmy's Hi-Fi Lounge (1964-1974) both close.
     
    		•  1974
    1975
  • In national news, Air Force Sgt. Leonard Matlovich sues the military for reinstatement after being discharged because he is gay. Eventually, a federal judge orders his reinstatement, but Matlovich accepts a settlement to end the case. The lawsuit is the first in a series of discharges challenged by gay and lesbian personnel.
     
    		•
  • GPU Establishes a G/L community center, The Farwell Center, in a leased flat at 1568 N. Farwell.
  • Hurricane Women’s Music Production Company formed sometime in the mid-1970’s. Produced many memorable women’s music concerts.
     
    		•
  • 'G Milwaukee' begins publishing
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        GPU News
        G-Milwaukee vol. 1 (Nov.)

     
    		•
  • The Empire Lounge (1940-1975) closes after 35 years.
     
    		•  1975
    1976
  • The Army Reserve discharges Milwaukean Miriam Ben-Shalom claiming she is unfit for service because of her homosexuality. Ben-Shalom launches a 15-year battle to win the right to server her country.
     
    		•
     
  • 'GLIB' begins publishing
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        GPU News
        GLIB vol. 1 (Aug)

     
    		•
  • Sistermoon Feminist Bookstore & Art Gallery opens and becomes the city's unofficial Lesbian cultural center.
     
    		•  1976
    1977
     
  • Anita Bryant forms “Save Our Children” to “save” children from being recruited by gays and lesbians. As a result of her efforts, gay rights ordinances will be repealed in St. Paul Minnesota, Eugene, Oregon and Wichita, Kansas. To counter the anti-gay hate campaign of singer Anita Bryant, the Milwaukee Committee on Human Rights is created. (Anita Bryant also was spokesperson for Florida Orange Juice, which continued to support her. To this day, some gays still don't drink orange juice!)
  • The Saturday Softball League (now called SSBL) is organized.
     
    		•
  • 'Milwaukee Gay Guide' begins publishing
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        GPU News
        Milw Gay Guide (summer)
     
    		•
  • Gary's dance bar opens (later to be come Circus then Club 219); Ten Hundred East closes
  • The Antlers Hotel bar (1962-1977) closes after 15 years.
     
    		•  1977
    1978
  • The Milwaukee Police Department, led by Chief Harold Breier, launches violent raids on Gay bathhouses resulting in dozens of arrests and angry street protests by the Gay community.
  • Leon Rouse of UWM's Gay Community gets student and academic committees in the UW system on record in support of policies forbidding anti-Gay bias.
  • In San Francisco, Gay activist Harvey Milk, elected to the S.F. Board of Supervisors, and Mayor George Moscone are murdered.
     
    		•
  • The athletic group GAMMA forms.
  • The Counseling Center of Milwaukee sponsors “free space” groups for women considering their sexual orientation.
     
    		•
  • 'Milwaukee Calendar' begins publishing
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        GPU News
        Milw Calendar vol. 1

     
    		•
  • Sistermoon Feminist Bookstore and Art Gallery opens and becomes the city’s unofficial lesbian cultural center.
     
    		•  1978
    1979
  • Hundreds of Milwaukeeans attend the first National March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights.
  • Thousands march through downtown Milwaukee to "Take Back the Night" protesting violence against women. Lesbians are both organizers and participants.
  • Holiday Invitational Tournament/ HIT holds the first of many annual bowling tournaments in Milwaukee.
     
    		•
  • Gay Youth Milwaukee is founded.
  • The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) is founded in Los Angeles and becomes a national church.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Milw Calendar vol. 2
        GPU News
     
    		•
         		 1979
    Year(s) Major Events Organizations The Media Businesses Year(s)
    1980
  • First report of a strange new disease amonmg gay men, what is now called AIDS.
  • Milwaukee Gays and Lesbians picket outside the movies Windows and Crusing, which are denounced for their defamatory images of Gay people.
     
    		•
  • The Milwaukee chapter of Black and White Men Together- later renamed People of All Colors Together- is organized by Mark Behar and others.
     
    		•  'Milwaukee Calendar' is acquired, renamed 'Gay Milwaukee'
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Milw Calendar vol. 3
        GPU News
     
    		•
  • Non Sequitor bar opens.
  • The Jazz Gallery hosts several events for lesbians and feminists.
     
    		•  1980
    1981
  • The Wisconsin state legislature passses AB70, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accomodations, largely through the efforts primarily of Leon Rouse and David Clarenbach. Wisconsin is the first state in the union to adopt such a "Gay Rights Law".
     
    		•
  • The Cream City Business Association, which consists of G/L business people and professionals, is established. CCBA launches the Cream City Association Foundation, soon renamed the Cream City Foundation, which gives grants to G/L groups and projects.
     
    		•
  • 'Leaping La Crosse News' and 'Our Town' both begin publishing; 'GPU News' and 'Gay Milwaukee' cease publishing
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Gay Milwaukee vol. 4
        GPU News
        Our Horizons (Aug-Oct)
     
    		•
  • Lost and Found bar opens.
     
    		•  1981
    1982
  • The "Consenting Adults Law" decriminalizing private sexual conduct between consenting adults is passed by the state legislature.
  • Facing an investigation by the House Ethics Committee over his relationship with a 17-year old male page, Democratic representative Gerry Studds of Massachusetts admits that he is gay.
     
    		•
  • The Saturday Volleyball League forms.
  • Wisconsin Outdoor Women forms.
     
    		•
  • 'Out!' newspaper begins publishing
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Escape vol. 5
        OUT!
     
    		•
  • original Factory bar closes; Grand Avenue Pub and Factory II open
    		•  1982
    1983
  • Gov. Anthony Earl appoints 14 men and women to serve on the Governor's Council on Gay and Lesbian Issues. During its 3-1/2 year existence, the Council initiates anti-Gay violence investigations and works with state agencies implementing the "Gay Rights Law".
  • The First International Gay Games is held in San Francisco. Over 1,300 gay men and lesbian athletes from 28 states and 10 nations participate.
     
    		•
     
  • 'Ragg' bar magazine begins publishing
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Escape
        OUT! vol. 1
        RAGG vol. 1 (May-Sept)

     
    		•
         		 1983
    1984
  • New Milwaukee Police Chief Robert Ziarnik (1984-89) meets with members of the G/L community, giving them hope that the "bad old days" of homophobic Chief Harold Breier's reign are over.
  • Berkeley, California becomes the first U.S. city to extend domestic partner benefits.
  • The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is discovered.
     
    		•
     
  • Ron Geiman begins publishing Wisconsin In Step.
  • Barb Coyle and Kim Bartels begin the women’s music radio show on WMSE (10:30 - midnight).
  • 'Amazon' newsletter ceases publishing after 12 years.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        InStep vol. 1
        OUT! vol. 2

     
    		•
  • at least 8 bars open, including Fannies, LaCage, and Boot Camp
    		•  1984
    1985
  • Rock Hudson dies of AIDS. Soon after, Elizabeth Taylor becomes the epidemic’s first celebrity crusader.
     
    		•
  • The Milwaukee AIDS Project is spun off from the BESTD Clinic via a coaltion with CCBA and CCF, and begins providing services to people with HIV/AIDS.
  • The Fest City Singers is established.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 2
        OUT!
     
    		•
         		 1985
    1986
  • In response to a reporter who asks if he is gay, Democratic representative Barney Franks of Massachusetts answers, “Yes. So what?”
  • Terry Boughner, Ph.D., who will become editor of a new 'Wisconsin Light' LGBT newspaper in 1987, speaks at the Milwaukee Auditorium in front of a capacity crowd of 5,000 at a rally in support of Jesse Jackson who is running for President.
     
    		•
  • The Galano Club, a coalition of 12-Step groups dealing with issues of ddiction and dependency among Gays and Lesbians, is started.
  • Lesbians of Color and Club Muse, a social club for Gays and Lesbians of color, forms.
  • The Lambda Rights Network, a political action group, is founded.
     
    		•
  • 'Among Friends' publication begins publishing.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 3
        OUT!
     
    		•
  • The iconic Mint Bar (1949-1986) closes after 37 years, the building being torn down to build the Bradley Center. It relocates to the south side as Mint Bar II
     
    		•  1986
    1987
  • On October 11th, the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights drew over 500,000 people making it the largest civil rights demonstration in U.S. history. The day before 2,000 gay and lesbian couples are “married” in a mass wedding outside the Internal Revenue Service building.
     
    		•
  • ACT UP holds its first public demonstration, a sit-in on Wall Street. The rise of direction-action tactics leads to the creation of Queer Nation and Lesbian Avengers.
  • The Milwaukee Lesbian/ Gay Pride Committee (MLGPC) is formed, and holds the first widely attended Pride celebration in Milwaukee.
  • Black & White Men Together (BWMT) Milwaukee hosts the National Association of BWMT in July.
  • Cream City Chorus forms.
     
    		•
  • Jerry Johnson and Terry Boughner begin publishing The 'Wisconsin Light' newspaper.
  • 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 CCF.
  • Two new publications, 'New Beginnings' and 'Feminist Voices' begin publishing.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 4
        OUT!
        Wisconsin Light, volume 1
        Leaping LaCrosse News

     
    		•
  • At least 9 new bars open this year in Milwaukee, but none survive even 10 years
    		•  1987
    1988
  • First Pride Event held at Mitchell Park - including a softball tournament and picnic.
  • Bill Meunier and Susan Cook organize 2,000 G/L volunteers for the Jesse Jackson Presidential campaign.
  • Wisconsin adopts hate crimes legislation providing enhanced penalties for those convicted of crimes motivated by bigotry, including prejudice based on sexual orientation. The US Supreme Court sustains the law, and it becomes the model for similar laws in other states.
     
    		•
  • First Annual Milwaukee Gay & Lesbian Film & Video Festival is held.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 5
        Wisconsin Light, volume 1
     
    		•
  • Bars 'Triangle' and 'Club 94' (Kenosha) open
    		•  1988
    1989
  • Denmark is the first nation to legalize same-sex unions.
  • Milwaukee Police Chief Ziarnik (1984-1989) is replaced by Chief Philip Arreola (1989-96)
  • Email begins to become more available, first via CompuServe, and then (1993) via AOL and Outlook.
     
    		•
  • Marquette students fight the administration's attempt to infringe on their freedoms by forming REASON, 'Rights and Equality for All Sexual Orientations Now'.
  • Two new organizations form: The Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee (LAMM), and Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
  • First Pride March in Milwaukee is held. The march started on 2nd Street, went to City Hall, then to a rally at Cathedral Square.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 6
        Wisconsin Light, volume 2
     
    		•
         		 1989
    Year(s) Major Events Organizations The Media Businesses Year(s)
    1990
  • Julie Brienza, a Lesbian journalist, sues Rev. Vic Eliason, who led a campagin to have her fired from her job at UPI. Brienza wins $255,000 and a statement from the Christian broadcaster that Gays and Lesbians have the right to work in the media.
     
    		•
  • The Cream City Squares and Country Line Dancers are both formed, and start kicking up their heels.
  • Out To Brunch Club starts for lesbians, monthly gathering at peoples homes and potluck.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 7
        Wisconsin Light, volume 3
     
    		•    1990
    1991
  • Murders committed by Jeffrey Dahmer shock the community and lead to demands for reform of the Milwaukee Police Department.
  • Gay activist Gary Hollander appointed to Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Police-Community Relations following Dahmer murders.
  • The Milwaukee School Board approves watered-down measures in support of G/L teens after 1,000 Bible-thumping fundamentalists pack a Board meeting.
     
    		•
     
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 8
        Wisconsin Light, volume 4
     
    		•
         		 1991
    1992
  • Mayor John Norquist stuns the G/L community by vetoing a $5,000 allocation of City Festival Funds for PrideFest.
  • Dan Fons and Patrick Flaherty arrested protesting Mayor Norquists’s veto at city’s press club “Birthday Party.”
  • k.d. lang comes out in the pages of the Advocate.
  • Canada joins the vast majority of other NATO countries permitting military service by lesbians and gay men.
     
    		•
  • A Milwaukee chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans forms.
     
    		•
  • The Brand New Queer TV Show, later The Queer Program, debuts on public access cable.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 9
        Wisconsin Light, volume 5
     
    		•
         		 1992
    1993
  • At the very start of his first term, President Clinton seeks to lift the ban on gay service personnel. The uproar in Congress is so strong that he is forced to back down. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is crafted as a compromise.
  • Confronted by lesbians furious about his vote in favor of the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Sen. Herb Kohl declares he is not "Gay or Lesbian".
  • More than 1 million people participate in the March for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Washington – reported to be the largest march in the Capital’s history.
     
    		•
  • Senior Action in a Gay Environment/ Milwaukee and the Sherman Park Rainbow Association are both founded.
  • The Milwaukee Lesbian/ Gay Pride Committee (MLGPC) is dissolved, and PrideFest, Inc. is incorporated.”
     
    		•
  • 'Steam' and 'Uptown Downtown' begin publishing.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 10
        Wisconsin Light, volume 6
        Uptown Downtown (starting Nov)
        Green Apple (mid-late yr)
     
    		•
  • AfterWords Bookstore and Espresso Bar (later Outwords) opens.
  • "Tina" Terry is shot to death in her north side bar, a haven for African American Gays and Lesbians.
     
    		•  1993
    1994
  • A proposal for a Gay/Lesbian Studies certificate program is submitted to UWM administrators but becomes a political football, not offically approved for almost two years.
  • Many Milwaukee Gays and Lesbians travel to New York to participate in Gay Games IV & Cultural Festival and the huge Stonewall 25 March. LAMM softball team places 4th in the Gay Games.
  • Wisconsin representative Steve Gunderson becomes the first GOP congressman to come out. In 1996, GOP representative Jim Kolbe of Arizona follows suit.
  • 25th anniversary Stonewall March is held in New York; it is also the fourth Gay Games.
     
    		•
  • The Human Rights League for Lesbians and Gays is formed and sponsors a series of Coming Out Day events.
     
    		•
  • 'Quest' bar magazine begins publishing.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 11
        Quest, volume 1
        Wisconsin Light, volume 7
        Uptown Downtown (ending March)

     
    		•
         		 1994
    1995
  • Two influential AIDS activists/ educators- Christopher Fons and Arnie Malmon- succumb to AIDS complications.
     
    		•
  • Milwaukee World Festivals Inc. agrees to lease Henry W. Maier Festival Park to PrideFest for its 1996 celebration. The Wisconsin Light exults: "Summerfest Grounds, Here We Come!".
  • PrideFest is likely the first major national Pride celebration to host a fireworks display.
  • Amigas Latinas starts, for LesBi of Latina heritage.
  • Diverse and Resilient started as a program within Aurora Health Care, serving LGBT youth. Distributes $25,000 to start fledgling LGBT youth groups in Wisconsin.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 12
        Quest, volume 2
        Wisconsin Light, volume 9
        Q-Voice (starting Oct)

     
    		•
  • The Wreck Room, Milwaukee's popular levi/ leather bar, closes after 23 years in business.
     
    		•  1995
    1996
  • Karen Gotzler loses a hard-fought campaign to become Milwaukee's 3rd District Alderperson and its first openly Gay or Lesbian City Council member.
  • Bette Midler's sparkling presence draws record crowds and proceeds to AIDS Walk Wisconsin.
  • A Hawaii court rules that a compelling case has not been made to ban gay marriage. Concern over the case leads Congress to overwhelmingly pass the Defense of Marriage Act.
     
    		•
  • 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 G/L/B/T communities.
  • The Alternative Business Association forms.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 13
        Quest, volume 3
        Q-Voice
        Wisconsin Light, volume 9
     
    		•
         		 1996
    1997
  • Hundreds attend the 10th anniversary black tie celebration held for the Wisconsin Light newspaper at the downtown Milwaukee Hilton Hotel; the $10,000 raised is donated to the Cream City Foundation.
     
    		•
  • Rainbow Families Milwaukee begins with potlucks hosted in LGBT parents’ homes. Organization forms in 1998.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 14
        Quest, volume 4
        Q-Voice
        Wisconsin Light, volume 10
     
    		•
         		 1997
    1998
  • Matthew Shepard is murdered – national attention highlights violence against gays, lesbians, and transgender persons. Vigils and demonstrations occur spontaneously across the country.
  • Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, becomes the first openly lesbian or gay candidate elected to the House of Representatives as a non-incumbent.
     
    		•
  • Milwaukee LGBT Community Center opens in the Downtown Mini Warehouse, 170 S. 2nd St.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 15
        Quest, volume 5
        Q-Voice (ending Aug)
        Wisconsin Light, volume 11
     
    		•
  • The Alternative Business Association forms.
     
    		•  1998
    1999
  • Mobile or Cell phones begin to become more available.
  • The Vermont Supreme Court rulesthat the state must grant gay and lesbian couples the same rights as married couples.
  • The City of Milwaukee institutes a Domestic Partner Registry for same-sex domestic partners.
     
    		•
  • Project Q, a drop-in program for queer youth forms.
  • Human Rights League PAC forms to promote and support LGBT and LGBT friendly candidates for elected office.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 16
        Quest, volume 6
        Wisconsin Light, volume 12
     
    		•
         		 1999
    Year(s) Major Events Organizations The Media Businesses Year(s)
    2000
  • State Representative Tim Carpenter comes out.
  • Lesbian Juana Vega is killed by the brother of her ex-lover. Although the brother claimed that Vega had turned his sister into a Lesbian, the courts ruled that the murder was not a hate crime.
  • Leonard Sobczak, openly gay man, appointed to the Milawukee Fire and Police Commission by Mayor Norquist.
     
    		•
  • House of Infiniti, an organization for African American gay, bisexual and transgender men forms.
     
    		•
  • 'Wisconsin Light' newspaper ceases publishing after 15 years.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 17
        Quest, volume 7
        Wisconsin Light, volume 13 (ceases publishing after March)
        G Street (starting July)
     
    		•
         		 2000
    2001
  • City of Milwaukee passes domestic partnership benefits for same and opposite-sex unmarried partners of city workers in a collective bargaining agreement with AFSCME DC 48.
  • Donna Utke, longtime leader in Milwaukee’s lesbian community, dies.
     
    		•
  • Center Advocates, the equal rights arm of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, is launched along with its Equality Knocks campaign.
  • PrideFest hits record attendance of 18,604 over its 2.5 day celebration in June.
     
    		•
  • Wisconsin Light newspaper tries to restart publishing after closing in 2000.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 18
        Quest, volume 8
        G Street (to Aug)
     
    		•
         		 2001
    2002
  • UWM establishes LGBT Advisory Committee to monitor, advise, and advocate regarding LGBT issues on campus.
     
    		•
  • PrideFest hits record attendance of 18,604 people over its 2.5 day run in June.
  • Diverse and Resilient, Inc., an organization supporting the healthy development of LGBT people, incorporates as a 501(c)3 organization.
     
    		•
  • After trying to restart briefly in 2001, Wisconsin Light again ceases publishing.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 19
        Quest, volume 9
        OutBound, vol. 1 (starting Aug)

     
    		•
         		 2002
    2003
  • Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission holds hearings on the treatment of LGBT members of both departments. Result is a new policy to change the culture around diversity.
  • Governor Doyle vetoes Defense of Marriage Bill, the only DOMA veto not to be overridden.
     
    		•
  • PrideFest sustains a debt of nearly $150,000 and nearly goes bankrupt. Led by the Cream City Foundation, the PrideFest Task Force is formed to forge ahead with a plan to reduce the debt and produce a festival for 2004.
     
    		•
  • 'In Step' newspaper ceases publishing after 19 years, marking the first time Milwaukee is left without a true LGBT newspaper in 22 years.
  • EDGE magazine begins publishing April 1, 2003.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        In Step, volume 20
        Quest, volume 10
        Edge (starting Apr)
        OutBound, vol. 2
     
    		•
         		 2003
    2004
  • In March, the Republican-led legislature begins the process of ammending the state’s constitution to ban civil unions, domestic partnerships, and gay marriage.
     
    		•
  • PrideFest goes on despite the disaster of 2003, after a heroic community effort to save the event. The grand opening features Governor Jim Doyle, Mayor Tom Barrett, and other state and local leaders. The festival makes a profit of $51,000.
  • The Pride Parade is dropped to maintain the financial stability of the event.
     
    		•
  • After over a year with no LGBT newspaper in the state, TWO news-periodicals start up in December: Q-Life (aka Queer Life), and OutBound News.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest, volume 11
        OutBound, vol. 3
        Edge

    •      		 2004
    2005
  • Alliance School, a safe school, for LGBT teens planned in Milwaukee. In May the Board of Directors for Milwaukee Public Schools approves a 5 year contract with the Alliance School. Doors opened August 1st.
  • Governor Doyle presents commendation to Gary Hollander for his work with LGBT youth, setting the record “straight.”
  • The Milwaukee Police Department closes the play “Naked Boys Singing” at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, igniting a controversy over civil rights discrimination."
  • Milwaukee Alderman Mike McGee, Jr. enrages the city’s LGBT community when he refers to a Milwaukee police officer as “a straight-up sick faggot.” His comments are condemned by the Human Rights League PAC and other LGBT organizations, and he is publicly confronted by Wisconsin Senator Tim Carpenter.
  • The Reverend Lew Broyles of the Metropolitan Community Church dies.
     
    		•
  • Milwaukee Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf creates its first website
  • The Milwaukee Pride Parade returns, sponsored by local LGBT bars and media.
     
    		•
  • After barely a year, OutBound News newspaper ceases publishing.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        OutBound News
        Quest, volume 12
        Queer Life News, vol. 1
        OutBound, vol. 4
        Edge
     
    		•
         		 2006
    2006
  • The Alliance School graduates its first class of seniors on June 1. Nineteen students receive diplomas, and many wear rainbow tassels.
  • November 7, Anti-gay marriage Amendment passes.
  • +Celebrities Lance Bass, George Takei, and Neil Patrick Harris come out as gay. Their announcements are part of a trend toward wider acceptance of the LGBT community by society as a whole.
     
    		•
  • Men’s Voices Milwaukee performs in "Just For Fun", their fifth season spring performance.
  • Women’s Voices Milwaukee debuts.
  • African-American LGBT leadership summit draws 50 participants. Sponsored by Diverse and Resilient, Connexus. The forum fosters networks of AA LGBT and other allies.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest, volume 13
        Queer Life News, vol. 2
        OutBound, vol. 5
        Edge (ending June)
     
    		•
  • The M&M Club bar and restaurant closes just short of its 30th anniversary. In its heyday, it was one of the three main gay bars in Milwaukee—the others being the Factory and theWreck Room—located in the city’s Third Ward.
  • Three new bars open: M's (staffed by former M&M employees); The Pumphouse; and Kruz
     
    		•  2006
    2007
  • Eldon Murray dies at the age of 77. Nationally recognized as a pioneer of LGBT rights, Murray was actively involved in the Gay Peoples Union, helped to raise funds in support of HIV/AIDS prevention, and founded SAGE/Milwaukee.
  • +January 27, 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.
  • +January 31, Terry Boughner dies; co-publisher of The Wisconsin Light. With an MA in history Terry was considered an expert on the Gay Holocaust in WWII 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.
     
    		•
  • ARCW becomes a major HIV Medical Center in 2007, for the first time spending over 1 million dollars on medical and dental care of HIV+ patients.
  • The Cream City Foundation celebrates 25 years of grant giving.
  • PrideFest turns 20 years old. The festival features headliners such as Kathy Griffin and Chaka Khan.
  • Milwaukee hosts nearly 500 people for the national "FORGE Forward" conference of transgender and SOFFAs (Significant Others, Friends, Family and Allies).
  • Outreach held an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of passage of the nation's first Equal Rights legislation, AB-70.
     
    		•
  • Our Lives magazine begins publishing in Madison.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Our Lives
        OutBound, vol. 6
        Quest, volume 14
        Queer Life News, vol. 3
  • "This Month in History" articles
     
    		•
         		 2007
    2008
  • PrideFest endures torrential rainfalls both Saturday and Sunday of their 3-day run; a 10-day period in June 2008 make this to be the wettest month in Milwaukee history.
  • Lodewikus “Vic” Milford, a 43-year old openly gay Miller Brewing Company executive, is killed near the Walker’s Point bars in January. The incident focuses attention on what residents and business owners say is a long-ignored pattern of increased property and personal crime.
  • Passage of California's Proposition 8 sets off "Stonewall 2.0" demonstrations. It is estimated some 100,000 people demonstrated in 300 cities across the U.S. in protest of anti-gay marriage proposition results at the polls.
  • The Milwaukee Board of School Directors approves domestic partner benets in September. Employees are able to apply for the benefits beginning September 2011.
     

    •  
  • Queer Life News newspaper ceases publishing, after 4 years of struggles.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Our Lives
        OutBound, vol. 7
        Quest, volume 15
        Queer Life News, vol. 4
  • "This Month in History" articles
     
    		•
  • C'est La Vie bar closes, after more than 30 years in business.
  • The Switch bar closes, after 8 years in business.
  • This Is It bar celebrates 40 years
     
    		•  2008
    2009
  • Wisconsin enacts a domestic partnership registry for same-sex couples, becoming the first state with a same-sex marriage ban to do so.
  • For the first time in PrideFest's history, the festival draws more than 30,000 attendees to the three-day event.
     
    		•
  • The Saturday Softball League (SSBL) hosts the 33rd annual NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series in Milwaukee.
     
    		•
  • Wisconsin Gazette newspaper begins publishing in Milwaukee.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        OutBound, vol. 8
        Quest, volume 16
        Wis Gazette vol. 1 (starting November)
        Our Lives

     
    		•
  • LaCage dance club celebrates 25 years
     
    		•  2009
    Year(s) Major Events Organizations The Media Businesses Year(s)
    2010
  • The U.S. Postal Service ignites controversy by withdrawing a gay pride display from the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center. Community reaction prompts the Postal Service to make amends by creating a special PrideFest stamp cancellation.
  • Marquette University ignites national controversy by withdrawing an offer to lesbian scholar Jodi O'Brien to become Dean of college of arts and sciences
  • Political newcomer Vance Skinner, an out gay man with partner and two daughters, unseats an incumbent in conservative Waukesha Common Council
  • National Organization for Marriage (NOM), on a 23-city anti-gay tour, find themselves overwhelmed by protestors in every stop; Madison's 500 protestors was one of the largest.
     
    		•
  • The Saturday Softball League (SSBL) brings back the Dairyland Classic softball tournament.
  • Diverse & Resilient awarded $1.7 million by CDC to organize campaign to raise awareness of HIV/ AIDS among young gay and bisexual African-American males; and awarded $155,000 by US DOJ to raise awareness of intimate partner violence in LGBT community.
  • Study compiled by Cream City Foundation discovered nearly a quarter of homeless youth in Milwaukee are LGBT; Q-Blok program looking to address.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        OutBound, vol. 9
        Quest, volume 17
        Wis Gazette vol. 1
        Our Lives

     
    		•
  • The Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, with ACLU support, settles its lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee for its closure of the 2005 production of the play "Naked Boys Singing."
  • Mixed (but primarily gay) bar Hybrid Lounge opens on Brady Street, and LGBT bar Tempt Bar opens downtown.
  • Once-a-week 'gay nights' initiated at Trocadero with "Beyond Pleasuredome", and Notte Night Lounge with "Crave".
     
    		•  2010
    2011
  • Republicans take over the governorship and state legislature, beginning a decade of repression of any ideas not far-right conservative; they implement voter ID law and cut taxes for the rich.
  • Scott Anderson ordained as first openly gay Presbyterian minister
     
    		•
     
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        OutBound, vol. 10
        Quest, volume 18
        Wis Gazette vol. 2
        Our Lives

     
    		•
         		 2011
    2012
  • Madison's Tammy Baldwin elected to U.S. Senate; first gay person ever elected to the US Senate, and the first woman Senator from WIsconsin
  • Mark Pocan, gay man, wins the congressional seat Tammy Baldwin gave up to run for Senate
  • Republican gerrymandering in the state gives GOP 60 of 99 Assembly seats, even though Democrats overall received 174,000 more votes than Republicans in Assembly races

     
    		•
  • The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center hovered on the brink of collapse late in 2011 due to financial mismanagement. In 2012, Neil Albrecht, Karen Gotzler, Paul Williams and others rally to save it.
  • Cream City Foundation names Paul Fairchild as new executive director.
     
    		•
  • OutBound magazine merges into Quest magazine.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest, volume 19
        Wis Gazette vol. 3
        Our Lives

     
    		•
         		 2012
    2013
  • Minnesota and Illinois join Iowa in granting marriage equality to LGBT couples- while Wisconsin's GOP controlled legislature wallows in the past and denies benefits.
  • Gays now hold four of Madison's Common Council seats (20%), and for the first time an out gay man, Dan Manning, is elected to a seat on Fond du Lac's Common Council.
  • Gay server Timothy Phares of an Applebee's restaurant in Rice Lake was assaulted by another employee's husband and told not to return to work after publicity of the gay-bashing incident; Applebee's slow to respond.
     
    		•
  • Milwaukee LGBT Community Center roars back after near bankruptcy in 2011, eliminate its debt. They name Colleen Carpenter as new executive director.
  • Milwaukee-based Equality Wisconsin and Madison-based Fair Wisconsin merge under the Fair Wisconsin name.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest, volume 20
        Wis Gazette vol. 4
        Our Lives

     
    		•
         		 2013
    2014
     
     
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest, volume 21
        Wis Gazette vol. 5
        Our Lives

     
    		•
         		 2014
    2015
     
  • Madison's AIDS Network merges with Milwaukee's ARCW/ AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest, volume 22
        Wis Gazette vol. 6
        Our Lives

     
    		•
         		 2015
    2016
  • Milwaukee historian Michail Takach publishes a book on Milwaukee LGBTQ history, "LGBT Milwaukee"
     
    		•
     
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest, volume 23
        Wis Gazette vol. 7
        Our Lives

     
    		•
         		 2016
    2017
  • Kenosha High school student Ash Whitaker wins a ruling in 7th Circuit US Court of Appeals against Kenosha schoo district for prohibiting him from using restrooms/ facilities that aligned with his gender identity
  • President Trump begins a campaign against LGBTQ rights on various fronts.
  • Wis Republican legislature and Gov Walker pass new state budget into law which eliminates the Domestic Partner Registry and phasing out domestic partner health insurance coverage for govt employees.
     
    		•
  • ARCW announces merger with Rocky Mountain CARES.
     
    		•
  • Milwaukee's Jaymes Mansfield lands a spot on RuPaul's Drag Race season 9, but is soon eliminated.
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest, volume 24
        Wis Gazette vol. 8
        Our Lives

     
    		•
  • A 29 year old man is charged in the death of 'This Is It" bartender Dylan Steffan, who was shot in back during an apparent robbery.
     
    		•  2017
    2018
  • Milwaukee Brewers announce they will host a Pride Night during the 2018 season.
  • Wis Republicans push a bill that would eliminate all local employment nondiscrimination protesctions statewide. The provision fails to make the final bill (and employment LGBT discrimination is removed nationwide by the US Supreme Court in 2020).
  • Madison Metropolitan School District announces it will install all-gender bathrooms in every Madison public school.
  • The first openly transgender recruit signs up for the US Military. The Trump admin is rebuked in its attempt to ban them.
  • A high school in Mequon WI elects Nikko Nelson as its first transgender prom queen.
     
    		•
  • Rainbow crosswalks are installed around Milw's Cathedral Square, thanks to efforts by Milwaukee Pride and 13 LGBTQ groups.
  • PrideFest in Milw draws a record-breaking crowd of 45,000 visitors to the fairgrounds over 4 days, an increase of 21% over the previous record set in 2017.
     
    		•
  • Wisconsin's Trixie Mattel wins RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2.
  • In October, Wisconsin Gazette newspaper discontinues publishing. Within weeks, Quest magazine also discontinues publishing. This leaves Milwaukee and most of Wisconsin without a 'local' LGBT publication for the first time in decades. (The only remaining Wisconsin based LGBT publication, Our Lives, is focused almost solely on Dane County and Madison.)
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Quest vol. 25
        Wis Gazette vol. 9
        Our Lives

     
    		•
         		 2018
    2019
  • Madison historian Dick Wagner publishes the first of a two-volume book on Wis LGBTQ history, "We've Been Here All Along".
  • In June, newly elected Democratic Governor Tony Evers raises a rainbow flag over the Wisconsin capitol for the first time, and Satya Rhodes-Conway, Madison's first lesbian mayor and its second female mayor, hosts rainbow flag-raising and lighting ceremonies for Madison government buildings. In October, Appleton raises the rainbow flag over City Hall for the first time for National Coming Out Day.
  • Wisconsin's U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin introduces a Senate resolution honoring the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.
  • Movements are underway in various cities to ban LGBTQ conversion therapy.
     
    		•
  • Courage MKE opens 'Courage House', a safe drop-in space for homeless LGBTQ youth. They are featured on The Today Show and in People magazine.
  • Outreach LGBT Community Center in Madison does not coordinate a Madison Pride Parade in 2019, but instead hosts a festival at Warner Park. This follows a tumultuous 2018 event and major chanegs to Madison's event policies.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Our Lives

     
    		•
  • Milwaukee's oldest gay bar, This Is It, announces a semi-permanent LGBTQ history exhibit curated by the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project.
     
    		•  2019
    Year(s) Major Events Organizations The Media Businesses Year(s)
    2020
  • COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic hits the world. Bars, restaurants, and all mass gatherings such as festivals, sports events, etc. are banned in the U.S. from March into summer. Milwaukee and most of the country cancels Pride events, and iconic LGBT landmarks such as the Stonewall Inn and Julius in New York City are threatened with bankruptcy. Local LGBT bars and businesses are also in danger of being unable to sustain themselves.
     
    		•
  • PrideFest, run by Milwaukee Pride Inc, is cancelled due to Coronovirus pandemic concerns. Unfortunately, the Milwaukee Pride Inc organization sits on their hands and does NOTHING to celebrate Pride. Questions begin to be raised by some in the community about Milwaukee Pride Inc's stability and leadership, while the organization hides its records from public view.
     
    		•
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Our Lives

     
    		•
  • Individual bars etc. take it upon themselves to organize their own Pride events.
     
    		•  2020
    2021
  • With COVID-19 vaccines now available, America begins to reopen. By July 1, most restrictions mandating mask wearing and banning crowded venues are lifted. To the best of our knowledge, no Wisconsin LGBT bars were forced to permanently close due to the lack of business in 2020.
  • Efforts are begun to designate the former location of the Black Nite bar, site of Milwaukee's own 'Stonewall' 8 years before the Stonewall Inn raid in New York City, where on August 5, 1961 four homophobic sailors harassed the patrons of that bar.
     
    		•
  • PrideFest is again cancelled. And once again, the Milwaukee Pride Inc organization does nothing of consequence for the community. More questions are raised about the group's viability and leadership.
  • Early in June, City of Milwaukee repaints the rainbow crosswalks at Cathedral Square (nearest 'This Is It' bar) and decorates one the "HOP" streetcars in Pride colors.
     
    		•
  • This organization, Wisconsin LGBT History project, works with media outlets in Milwaukee and beyond to highlight reasons to celebrate Pride. Michail Takach, B.J. Daniels, Don Schwamb and 5 members of the old GPU organization sit for media interviews and cooperate with online and newspaper articles.
  • A new publication, 'Milwaukee Pride Life', begins publishing in June. (No affiliation with the failing organization, Milwaukee Pirde Inc.)
  • See news and ads from this year in:
        Our Lives

     
    		•
  • Once again, lacking any organized PrideFest, many LGBT bars and restaurants run their own Pride events.
     
    		•  2021

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    Web site concept and design by Don Schwamb.
    Last updated: July-2020.

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