[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 67 (Monday, April 25, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING R. RICHARD ``DICK'' WAGNER

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, today I rise to honor someone who was a 
true leader and inspiring figure to many in my hometown of Madison, WI, 
and across our country.
  Scholar and activist R. Richard ``Dick'' Wagner sadly passed away on 
December 13, 2021, at the age of 78. Dick devoted his life to public 
service and advancing our common good. In 1980, he was elected as the 
first openly gay member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors, where 
he served for 14 years, including 4 years as chair.
  I first met Dick in 1984. Fresh out of college and looking to connect 
with the local political scene, I was invited to a gathering of local 
progressive elected officials, labor union leaders, and civil rights 
and environmental activists to strategize about candidate recruitment 
for city council and school board seats to be contested in the spring 
elections. We met on the second floor of a popular local establishment, 
Mother's Pub, which had long been a gathering spot for local 
progressives. I observed how much respect Dick had earned from his 
fellow progressive leaders. Following a discussion about the issues the 
group hoped to advance, we broke into small groups. Dick Wagner led a 
discussion on opportunities to advance policies, initiatives, and 
ordinances to counter discrimination against our community. That day, 
Dick became my role model and mentor, and a lifelong friendship ensued.
  As one of the first dozen openly gay officials in the Nation, Dick 
was a founding member of the International Network of Lesbian and Gay 
Officials, now known as the Victory Institute. With quiet determination 
and the utmost civility, he provided me and many others a path forward. 
Together, Dick and I cohosted the fifth Victory Institute conference in 
Madison in 1989.
  Dick had an expansive professional career in public service, serving 
on the Wisconsin Arts Board, the Wisconsin Humanities Committee, the 
National Board for the Assembly of State Arts Agencies, the Madison 
Landmarks Commission, Olbrich Botanical Society, Friends of UW 
Libraries, and the Governor's Council on Lesbian and Gay Issues.
  He also cofounded UW-Madison's LGBT Alumni Association; and the New 
Harvest Foundation, the LGBT foundation for south-central Wisconsin, 
and served on the board of Fair Wisconsin.
  Dick understood that change grows at local grassroots level, and he 
worked hard in a collaborative way to bring it to Wisconsin. His work 
as a leader in the gay community helped lead to a city gay rights 
ordinance in 1974 and a county ordinance in 1980 prohibiting 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He was also 
instrumental in establishing some of the State's first 
antidiscrimination laws against gays and lesbians.
  In retirement, he fully utilized his doctorate in history by 
authoring two groundbreaking volumes on gay history in Wisconsin: 
``We've Been Here All Along'' provided an illuminating picture of 
Wisconsin's gay history from the reporting on the Oscar Wilde trials of 
1895 to the landmark Stonewall Riots of 1969. ``Coming Out, Moving 
Forward: Wisconsin's Recent Gay History'' outlined the challenges that 
LGBTQ Wisconsinites faced in their efforts to right past oppressions 
and secure equality. It also powerfully told the stories of our State's 
LGBTQ pioneers who pushed back against injustice and found ways to live 
openly and proudly as themselves.
  Dick Wagner was a deeply inspiring person in my life as a role model, 
mentor, and lifelong friend. In fact, I may not have ever entered 
public service if not for the guidance and encouragement he provided me 
to walk the path he paved. He provided the opportunity for young people 
like myself and others growing up all over Wisconsin to know that they 
are not alone and that they stand on the shoulders of people who came 
before them. Dick lived a life that showed to all of us that history 
only moves in one direction: Forward. For that, I am forever grateful.

                          ____________________