A Movement Begins

"Wisconsin has been a trailblazer in ways that very few people understand. And that's an important story to tell."—Dick Wagner

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A Movement Begins

Clip: Part 2 | 2m 37s

The Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality was Wisconsin’s first LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

Wisconsin Pride – A Movement Begins

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[angry crowd]

Dick Wagner: The ’60s had seen a whole range of activism here in Wisconsin. You had the anti-war movement, which was very strong on the Madison campus. In Milwaukee, you had a push for Black Civil Rights. There was a sense that there was this activism, which was a way to change things.

Protester: Sisterhood is powerful!

Narrator: A generation began to rise up during a time of political and social strife. Advancing a variety of movements, including gay rights.

Dick Wagner: There was this impetus that it was time to do something. Stonewall sent that signal, and people responded to it.

Narrator: In 1969, TIME magazine’s cover story, “The Homosexual in America,” put gay life into the national conversation. This inspired an anonymous writer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to publish an open letter in the campus paper calling for homosexuals to band together.

Scott Seyforth: They started by calling themselves the Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality.

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Dick Wagner: The Madison Alliance for Homosexuality Equality was recognized as the first gay organization in Wisconsin.

Scott Seyforth: Just months after Stonewall, they were on the local news channel. You know, out queers are on television in the state of Wisconsin. In March, they hold the first publicly announced gay dance. They had the first protest.

Narrator: The group protested outside a Madison theater playing the film The Boys in the Band.

Dick Wagner: They felt it depicted self-loathing homosexuals. The early activists particularly found that despicable as a portrayal.

Film: You’re a sad and pathetic man. You’re a homosexual, and you don’t want to be. But there’s nothing you can do to change it.

Dick Wagner: While they were picketing, they heard shouts of “faggots” from young kids in cars driving by. But it was very brave to do that kind of public action. To go out and be visible homosexuals in the community. You found other people who were willing to be out, and that gave you strength.