Budget Compromise Reached, Minus DP Benefits
Madison - Governor Jim Doyle and legislative leaders reached an agreement late October 19, as Quest went to press, to end the nation’s longest budget stalemate. Among the items missing from the compromise deal is the domestic partner benefits package for state employees that could have extended health care coverage to same-sex partners.
  The breakthrough came after several days of intense negotiations between aides to Doyle and legislative leaders. The talks started in earnest after the Republican-controlled Assembly on October 15 met in a special session to reject Doyle’s  October 9 offer, which they said still had too much spending and taxes.
  Doyle’s compromise package had removed “all the non-fiscal policy items in both the Assembly and the Senate versions that were not agreed to by both sides.” The proposed compromise eliminated the DP benefit portion from the version of the budget passed by the Senate as no similar package existed in the Assembly-passed version.
  However, DP benefits was seen as a minor budgetary issue separating the two sides. The biggest sticking points had been Doyle’s plan to increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1.25 and impose a 0.8% tax on hospitals.
  The October 19 deal’s $1 tax increase for cigarettes would amount to a compromise between Doyle and Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, who had offered 75 cents. The deal also would remove the hospital tax, a victory for Republicans, who had fought the plan since February.
  Republicans who lead the Assembly, Democrats who control the Senate and the governor’s office spent months bickering over spending and taxes. The compromise was scheduled to be voted on by the legislature on October 23. Huebsch and Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson both said they expected the new two-year, $58 billion budget to pass in their chambers. Any agreement would need approval from the Senate and the Assembly and to be signed into law by Doyle, who would also have a final chance to remake the plan with his veto pen.

ENDA Vote Widens Gay Divide
Washington, DC - A breach within the gay community over dropping transgender people from a job discrimination bill widened October 18 when a committee approved the bill and moved it to the House floor.
  Four Democrats bucked their party leadership to vote against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) as Congress’ only open lesbian moved to add gender identity back into the bill, which Democrats had hoped would be a signal civil rights achievement on their watch.
  “This is the first time in the history of the civil rights movement that a bill that does not have the support of a single constituent organization is being moved to the House floor,” NGLTF Executive director Matt Foreman said in response to the 27-21 committee vote. The Task Force opposes the legislation along with nearly 300 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activist groups and allies such as Fair Wisconsin, Milwaukee’s Center Advocates, Madison’s OutReach and the American Civil Liberties Union.
  Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) offered a version of the bill that banned job discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals, but dropped protections for gender identity because he said Democrats didn’t have the votes to pass it. The decision infuriated gay activists, who argued no single group should be abandoned.
  Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) broke with Frank, Congress’ only openly gay man, proposing an amendment to add gender identity back into the bill. “I have never wavered from my conviction that (the bill) must include protections based upon sexual orientation and gender identity,” Baldwin said in a statement.
  Noting a strong response from around the country, Baldwin wrote, “This extraordinary opportunity to advance LGBT rights in America is proud evidence of democracy in which the people decide what is possible.”
  The divisions, among the leadership and at the grass roots, are unprecedented for such a major piece of legislation, versions of which were first introduced in 1975. The controversy puts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat who signed off on the strategy to drop transgender people, under pressure to change a bill she endorsed.
  Foreman said gay rights groups will hold Pelosi to her word that she actually wants gender identity to be part of the bill. “She has said, repeatedly, that she wants a fully inclusive bill,” Foreman said. “Now’s the time to deliver.”  Four Democrats voted against the bill in the House Education and Labor Committee, and two more said they will support Baldwin’s amendment, including California Representative Lynn Woolsey, who has a gay son. “My constituents oppose this bill because it doesn’t include gender identity,” Woolsey said. “In fact, the only letters, e-mails and faxes that we’ve received - and there have been hundreds of them - have said, ‘Congresswoman, don’t vote for it unless it includes gender identity.’ “
 The bill passed outof committee with three Republicans in support. No Wisconsin representatives serve on the committee.  A full House vote is expected October 24. No action is expected this year in the Senate.
  The largest gay-rights lobbying group in Washington, the Human Rights Campaign, continues to work closely with Frank and will not oppose the legislation on the floor, even as it continues to push for gender identity inclusion.
  HRC has come under attack from other gay rights organizations for its position, and Vice President David Smith fiercely defended the group after the committee vote. “We are going to retriple our efforts to get an inclusive bill, and get it to a president who will sign it,” Smith said. “We will not stop until that gets done, and when it does get done, HRC will be the organization that made it happen.”
  Christopher Anders, senior legislative council for the ACLU, reiterated his group’s staunch opposition to the bill. “Everyone should have the right to come to work knowing the only factor in employment decisions is their ability to do their job - no exceptions,” he said. “Nobody should be cut out or left behind simply because Democratic leadership is too impatient to round up the votes needed to pass a comprehensive bill.”

World & National News:

Larry Craig Interview A Ratings Flop
New York - NBC’s exclusive interview with Senator Larry Craig in a prime time Dateline special attracted just 5.7 million viewers in the 8 PM. time slot October 16 according to Nielsen ratings. Among adults 18 to 49, it finished in a tie for last place in the hour with the CW’s “Beauty and the Geek.”
  Leading the hour was CBS’s “NCIS,” the night’s most watched show, with 17.4 million viewers. CBS shared the lead for the night overall with Fox, whose broadcast of baseball playoffs ranked first in the main adult demographic.
  Though Matt Lauer’s interview with Craig may not have made much of an impression in the ratings,but it apparently swayed some viewers to Craig’s side. According to a poll of over 600 viewers by HCD Research and Muhlenberg College, while only 15% of those viewers said they thought Craig was wrongfully charged before watching the interview with Lauer, that number had increased to 28% afterwards.
  Party affiliation didn’t affect the increase, with 15% of Democrats saying he was wrongly charged before seeing the show, and 27% afterwards. For Republicans those numbers were 20% to 31%; independents 10% to 23%.
  The interview was not a hit with Beltway critics. Tom Shales of the Washington Post was particularly unimpressed. “One thing, at least, was made painfully clear by Matt Lauer’s interview with Senator. Larry Craig on NBC last night: Matt Lauer is no Mike Wallace,” Shales quipped in an October 17 column. “Lauer was anything but hard-hitting or confrontational with the Idaho Republican, arrested in June for alleged homosexual solicitation in a Minneapolis airport men’s room.”
  Craig’s constituents were also mostly underwhelmed by the interview. Some expected Craig took the easy route by selecting one network to take questions publicly for the first time.
  “I think that there’s probably questions that are off-limits,” Kendelle Vogt told Boise’s KBCI-TV. Vogt says she wasn’t fooled, “They’ve already set up what the parameters are so it’s not even worth watching because it’s just going to be an easy little piece where he gets to say what he wants to say and doesn’t have to answer any hard questions.”
  Others felt the interview didn’t reveal anything that hasn’t already been said. “There’s not a whole lot that he can say new, it’s just a matter of trying to win the public over to his side,” Rich Davila told the station.
  “It doesn’t really matter, it doesn’t change anything,” another said.

State News:

Capturing Our Story: The Milwaukee LGBT History Project
Milwaukee - As national LGBT History month draws to a close, Quest takes a look at a unique, multifaceted project that is working hard to capture and preserve Wisconsin’s gay story, one that is far more extensive and integral to the gay liberation movement in the United States than some might realize.
  Much of that gay cheesehead history is just a computer mouse click away as well. The Milwaukee LGBT History Project website (www.mkelgbthist.org) chronicles hundreds of people, organizations and media, with extensive cross references that document collaborations and relationships among the entries.
  Quest news editor Mike Fitzpatrick sat down with webmaster Don Schwamb to get an overview of the project, its critical mission and how interested history buffs (and history makers) can get more involved.
Quest: You are the webmaster for the Milwaukee LGBT History Project, but that’s only one phase of the project. Can you tell me about scope of the entire project?
Schwamb: Sure. The Milwaukee LGBT History Project was started about mid-2002. The initial impetus for the project was (the realization that) there were quite a few individuals in the community who were “getting up there” in age. We wanted to capture their oral histories.
  We put together a list of individuals we wanted to interview, document those interviews and create an exhibit for PrideFest that would highlight some of those people.
  Over time, as we collected more information, we felt the need to have a place to deposit materials that might be donated. We reached an agreement with UW-Milwaukee archives. They agreed to collect and maintain those materials.
  We also wanted a place where we could link information together, so that it wasn’t as fragmentary as it would be otherwise. That’s why the website got started. Those are the three primary components of the History Project.
Quest: How many items are in storage at the UW-M archives?
Schwamb: I would not be able to give you that number offhand. The person in charge of the archive - Michael Doylen, whose one of us, would know that better.
Quest: I know there’s quite a bit in there. I was able to access quite a bit online for the fact-checking on the Eldon Murray piece done for Quest last Spring.
Schwamb: We have made a concerted effort to approach organizations that may no longer be active or those that have archives that they don’t know what to do with any more.
  We approached PrideFest on several occasions. When the PrideFest office was closed when they got into financial difficulties we were able to get quite a bit of information that was stored there: both PrideFest archives as well as Cream City Business Association archives that were stored in the PrideFest office.
  I was a past President of the Cream City Foundation, so I approached the foundation board and got permission to release all the old archives of CCF. We’ve done the same with other organizations.
Quest: Let’s talk about the oral history portion of the project. How many of the “seasoned citizens” that you wanted to capture have you been successful in obtaining?
Schwamb: I am disappointed to say that we have not done as well as most of us had hoped. Initially we set a goal of six or seven people in the first year. We did do that. The  second year we only interviewed three or four. Unfortunately for the last several years, the oral history subcommittee has been virtually inactive.
  They’ve made some attempts to re-form but have not been successful. I believe in the last year they might have collected one or two, possibly three oral histories. It’s extremely disappointing to many of us that the oral history part has not gone forward.
  A lot of it is simply a lack of volunteers. We have the same problem as any organization does. For example, the website is a huge effort, but it is totally a one-person effort. I have been the only person who has done anything with the website simply because no one else has come forward to do it.
Quest: The website is probably the most easily accessible portion of the History Project at this point.
Schwamb: And it is my passion. Unlike materials that might go into the archives and be harder to get to, the website is more accessible. The other thing about the website - what is good about any Internet website - is that you can cross link information.
  If you’re looking, let’s say, at the page on the Wreck Room bar, there are links to other bars that were open at the time, a link to the person who owned the bar, and a link to the Wreck Room Classic which is now the SSBL Milwaukee softball tournament.
  All of those things can be interconnected on a website. It’s a powerful thing, so that’s why it’s my passion.
Quest: How many pages are on the website right now?
Schwamb: I know there’s over 3 gigabytes of information and - let me check- there are over 30,000 pages and documents uploaded.
Quest: To me it seems extremely extensive, and you have made the attempt to expand the site beyond the scope of Milwaukee.
Schwamb: Absolutely. To some extent the Milwaukee LGBT History Project was formed because the city was much of the nucleus of (gay) activity. But when I was building the website, there were just too many places to segregate it just to Milwaukee. It was too hard.
  I didn’t want to do that also. I’ve always enjoyed going to Madison, for example. I’ve visited the Racine, Kensoha and Fox Valley bars and enjoyed going to those (places).
  When you look at the leather organizations, and especially the drag scene and the pageants - those are statewide things. So I have taken it on myself to make the website a statewide project and not to focus it all on Milwaukee. I document as thoroughly and carefully as I can, organizations and bars throughout the state.
Quest: Right now how many people are actually active in the Milwaukee History Project besides Mr. Doylen and yourself?
Schwamb: I would say there are a total of seven or eight people who are active in the project. That also includes Bill Serpe, who is the Executive Director of SAGE (Seniors In A Gay Environment). We approached SAGE about two years ago because as a new organization we had no 501(c)3 (tax-exempt) status, no structure or by-laws. We said to SAGE: “To us it makes sense to have the History Project be a part of an organization like SAGE, a group that’s also about history to some extent.”
  We are now officially a project of SAGE. Bill helps keep us going, keeps things rolling with a place for us to meet and things like that.  There are several people who are helping to keep the oral history project on track, and several who help out with PrideFest. That is one of our major efforts every year.
Quest: Is that the time line project that Jerry Johnson (formerly of the Wisconsin Light) works on?
Schwamb: Yes. The time line is a project that everyone works on and it involves the website. I started to put together a time line for the website that was loosely based on one that had been created in the mid-1990’s by (veteran Milwaukee lesbian author and journalist) Jamakaya for PrideFest.
  That was lost at some point. We tried to resurrect that and added quite a bit to it.
  Jerry Johnson has a huge collection of materials from organizations - flyers, invitations and the like - that he would post at PrideFest to give people some sense of history. He recently donated a large portion of it to the archives to assure they will be preserved.
  He also had a huge movie poster collection. He would also display posters from gay-themed movies.
Quest: The History Project at PrideFest has become the most visible - walk-in shall we say - display that anyone can access without having to use an intermediate device, like using a computer or going to the UW-M library.
Schwamb: We’ve been very successful and very pleased with the turn out at the History Project at PrideFest. In 2006 we count around 5500 people who came into the History building at some point.
Quest: Why is it important that our community keep a record of what we’ve done and where we’ve been?
Schwamb: We have to have an appreciation for our past in order to understand how we got here. It’s too easy for people, say, in their 20’s to come out, not understanding what it was like 10 or 20 years ago, and then take for granted what we have. What we have was not handed to us on a silver palter. We didn’t get (to where we are today) by sitting on our laurels.
  We are unfortunately one of those minorities that has to fight and sometimes get in the general community’s face to deal with something we don’t like. Facing how we have gotten where we are is going to help future generations stay on track to obtain all the rights that we are entitled to.
Quest: When you look at the mainstream gay media, places like Wisconsin don’t exist. Coverage is basically New York, California, Florida... Basically its the coasts and not what’s going on in the heartland where probably some of the most exciting things have occurred in the last few years.
Schwamb: Right. Not only the last few years but (further back). The gay population in the nation doesn’t even understand that in the mid to late 1970’s the GPU News, which was based here in Milwaukee and was one of maybe two or three gay publications in the country. The GPU News was widely distributed throughout the nation. People were buying subscriptions form places like New York California and even overseas.
  We don’t have that prominence any more. Papers like the Advocate have taken that over. But back in the 70’s we (in Milwaukee) were one of the hubs of gay activism. Eldon Murray was a prime example of that.
Quest: When Quest did the Eldon story, we passed it out to the mainstream gay media. Only one or two national websites picked up on Eldon’s contributions. Yet I’ve seen many other people who were similarly honored (with Eldon) in that 30 Pioneers group receive far more recognition from the national recognition by the national gay rights organizations because of where they lived. Eldon was passed over, like “Who the heck is that?” I find it disturbing because the struggles for our rights continue in the Midwest, in the “fly over” country between the coasts - much more so than they do in New York and California.
Schwamb: Exactly.
Quest: So how can people get involved to preserve our history here?
Schwamb: I know that people are always cautious about volunteering their time. But there are so many simple ways you can be involved. If you’re an older member of the community and you have a few photographs, a few recollections or even a few copies of old publications - like old InSteps, or old Escapes or Milwaukee Calendar - we need some of those.
  You can donate some old materials that you have that you may think may not have much value but might be one of a kind. We have many gaps and we’d like to fill those in.
  If you’re person who may not have photographs but remember well the experiences you had when you came out, what organizations helped you along, what people were your mentors, or what bars you enjoyed going to -  we love hearing those recollections. The tapestry of the communal recollection helps build the picture of what gay life was like in the past. If people want to send an email with some of those recollections, that would be a big help.
  If someone really has a passion for our history, we’d love to hear from them because we could really use some more volunteers. We can use people to work on the website. We can use people who will go through old publications, making notes of things that happened in the past so we can build the linkage between events and people.
  We can also use people to work on the PrideFest display. It’s a once a year kind-of-thing. If you love to talk to people, you might want to work on oral histories. Volunteers are always needed.
Quest: I found it interesting that last week the San Francisco public library made a city-wide call for people to bring in old photographs and things for their gay archives. Only about 50 people show up with materials - in San Francisco, the “gay capital.” Does that say something about our community’s lack of a sense of history?
Schwamb: Yes it does - and we have the same thing here. But on the other hand people are out there who want to share. Since the website has gone up, I’ve had at least one email a month from people I’ve never heard from before.
  Last month I got an email from a guy who went to school at UW-Madison. It was the only time he was in Wisconsin. But that’s where he came out as a gay person and remembered going to a couple of gay bars. The website was a find, because he couldn’t remember the names of the bars and the website had them. As a result he gave me additional information about the bar.
  Another person was a relative of a gay person who owned a gay restaurant and sent me a photograph of the menu board from the 1970’s. Those are wonderful adds that we would never have gotten without the website.
  I know there are people who are history-minded and appreciate why our history is important. Those are the people we’re trying to reach out to.
Quest: As I believe Winston Churchill once said “those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.” With the rise of the influence of Religious Right in the 1990’s and 2000’s, do we really want to go back to the 1950’s?
Schwamb: Right! And that is why it’s important for people in their 20’s to have some appreciation and knowledge of our history and how we got here. It wasn’t always easy to go to a gay bar or join a gay organization. By knowing our history, they will have a better understanding and help us to move forward to gain more of our civil rights.
  If you have questions about the Milwaukee LGBT History Project, wish to volunteer, donate the use of items or arrange an oral history interview, contact the history project at either of the following emails: historyproject@sagemilwaukee.org or webmaster@mkelgbthist.org. Project staff will evaluate the materials, scan and return them if appropriate, or in the case of donations help the person decide on disposition (to the UW-M Archives, UW-M Special Collections, or other LGBT-specific collection).
  The Milwaukee LGBT History Project  is a program of SAGE/ Milwaukee, 1845 N. Farwell Ave., Suite 220, Milwaukee, WI 53202. The history project’s phone number is 414-224-0517, Ext. #3.
  Quest is proud to announce that Don Schwamb will be submitting periodic History Connections stories for publication in addition to his monthly “This Month In Gay History” column for QLife.