A biographical panel was created by the Milwaukee LGBT History Project about Donna Burkett and Manonia Evans, and was featured in a display first appearing at PrideFest 2011. The text from that display is as follows:

Donna Burkett and Manonia Evans: "That's our civil rights; that's what this is all about"

On October 1, 1971, Donna Burkett and Manonia Evans, an African-American lesbian couple, walked into the Office of the Milwaukee County Clerk to apply for a marriage license. Milwaukee County Clerk Thomas Zablocki refused to accept their application, saying that Wisconsin statutes prohibited the marriage of persons of the same sex. Burkett and Evans then filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, charging that Zablocki's refusal deprived them of due process and equal protection of the law under the U.S. Constitution. "The law should protect us and help us the way it does any two straight people who love each other and want to live together," Burkett told GPU News, the news magazine of the Milwaukee gay and lesbian community. "That's our civil rights; that's what this is all about." The lawsuit attracted national attention and was covered by Jet and The Advocate. District Judge Myron L. Gordon dismissed the case on January 10, 1972, when the women's attorney failed to submit a brief outlining their arguments.

Burkett and Evans married on Christmas Day, 1971 in a ceremony officiated by Rev. Joseph Feldhausen and attended by 250 friends and family members. Burkett wore a black Edwardian tuxedo and Evans, a white floor-length gown with lace sleeves, a flowered scalloped cap, and an extended train.

Thanks to Burkett and Evans, Wisconsin was among a handful of states that took part in the first wave of same-sex marriage lawsuits in the early 1970s. All tried to secure the legal recognition of committed same-sex relationships as sufficiently similar to heterosexual ones in relevant respects. All were unsuccessful. Courts upheld traditional definitions of marriage as involving two persons of the opposite sex joined in a union to procreate and raise children. Following these defeats, gay men and lesbians lowered their sights from the state to the municipal levels, and from full marriage rights to a few rights associated with a new institution, domestic partnerships. It wasn't until the mid-1990s that the legal struggle for marriage equality would be resumed in earnest.

By the initiative of Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson and Supervisor Peter Burgelis, some forty individuals and organizations were recognized by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors and presented citations in a special meeting on June 22, 2023. "Today, we recommit Milwaukee County to supporting and uplifting the LGBTQ+ community, celebrating those who make a substantial positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community in Milwaukee County," Supervisor Burgelis stated. "Today we are making up for lost time. We have dozens of people to recognize, not because so much has been done in the past year, but because decades and even years ago, there was little to no recognition of the LGBTQ+ community. I am thankful to work with a Chairperson who enables our County Board to honor these well-deserving individuals."

Recognitions were made in the categories of "Community Leaders and Activists," "Government Leaders," "Business and Cultural Leaders," and "Health and Wellness Leaders". Burkett's citation (largely self-written) read as follows:

• WHEREAS, Donna Burkett walked into the Office of the Milwaukee County Clerk with her partner Manonia Evans to apply for a marriage license on October 1, 1971; and
• WHEREAS, Donna Burkett's application was denied due to Wisconsin statutes prohibiting marriage of persons of the same sex, leading Burkett and Evans to file a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleging that Milwaukee County's refusal deprived them of due process and equal protection of the law under the U.S. Constitution; and
• WHEREAS, Donna Burkett passionately advocated for marriage equality, stating to the media, "the law should protect us and help us the way it does any two straight people who love each other and want to live together... that's our civil rights; that's what this is all about"; and
• WHEREAS, Donna Burkett's lawsuit attracted national attention to the fight for marriage equality, but was eventually dismissed on January 10, 1972; and
• WHEREAS, Donna Burkett's lawsuit was one of several across the United States, adding Wisconsin to the handful of states that took part in the first wave of marriage equality lawsuits in the early 1970s, which all tried to secure the legal recognition of committed same-sex relationships as sufficiently similar to heterosexual ones; and
• WHEREAS, Donna Burkett's activism on marriage equality laid the groundwork for the marriage equality fights of the 1990s and 21stCentury, and though they were unable to enter into a legal marriage, Burkett and Evans were married on Christmas Day, 1971 in a lovely ceremony officiated by Rev. Joseph Feldhausen and attended by over 250 friends and family members; now, therefore
• BE IT RESOLVED, the members of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, on the motion of Supervisors Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones and Peter Burgelis, along with Supervisors Ryan Clancy, Caroline Gómez-Tom, Willie Johnson, Jr., Juan Miguel Martinez, Shawn Rolland, Steven Shea, Liz Sumner, Sequanna Taylor, Sheldon A. Wasserman, Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson do herewith commend Donna Burkett for her dedicated efforts and contributions to the LGBTQ+ community, and wish her prosperity, happiness, and continued success in all her endeavors.