Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
Wisconsin passes the country's first gay rights law, 1982
Selections from Rep. David Clarenbach's papers, 1981-82.
In 1982, under the leadership of Rep. David Clarenbach, Wisconsin passed the nation's first statewide gay rights law. The documents linked below were selected from Clarenbach's large collection of papers to document passage of that anti-discrimination bill, AB 70 (1981). The documents are arranged in the following order, each group preceded by an introductory note: religious support and opposition, transcript of Assembly debate on AB 70, the text of the law and a photograph of its signing, contemporary press coverage, citizen support and protest, a 1982 interview with Rep. Clarenbach, a mimeographed pamphlet from Wisconsin Citizens Against Public Gay Perversion, and retrospective evaluation in the press. We are grateful to Andrea Rottmann of the John F. Kennedy Institut für Nordamerikastudien of the Freie Universität Berlin (Germany) for her help selecting and introducing the documents given here, and to Rep. Clarenbach for his permission to publish them.
| Related Topics: |
Wisconsin's Response to 20th-century change Desegregation and Civil Rights |
| Creator: | Clarenbach, David E., 1953 - |
| Pub Data: | Papers, 1974-1992 (selections). Original documents are in Box 5, folders 7, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 21 and 22; and Box 6, folder 15. |
| Citation: | Cite the original document from its internal data, followed by: Selections from Rep. David Clarenbach's papers, 1981-82; Online facsimile at: http://wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1750; Visited on: 4/17/2024 |
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