MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - State officials are celebrating a milestone for gay rights, when Wisconsin became the first in the nation to ban discrimination on many fronts based on sexual orientation.
The Wisconsin Pride and Equal Rights Panel was hosted Monday by the state Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and the Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).
The author of the legislation described what it took to pass then-Assembly Bill 70 with bipartisan support.
Former State Representative David Clarenbach, a Democrat, said it was crucial to get support from religious groups and Republicans.
GOP votes, he said, were key to the bill passing in both houses of state Legislature.
Clarenbach cited Gov. Lee Dreyfus, a Republican, who signed the bill into law in February 1982: “It is a fundamental tenant of the Republican Party that the government should not interfere in the private lives of individuals. There is certainly nothing more private or more intimate than who you love or how you love. And with that, Gov. Dreyfus put pen to paper and made history.”
The measure amended Wisconsin’s Fair Employment Law, thus protecting Wisconsinites from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
“The law that was enacted 40 years ago impacted the real lives of real people in real ways. And that’s what we’re celebrating today,” Clarenbach said Monday.
Other panelists agreed, there is more work ahead for LGBTQ rights.
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