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2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTIO N 34
April 20, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives HONG, SNODGRASS, NEUBAUER,
CABRERA, J. ANDERSON, BARE, CONSIDINE, JACOBSON, JOERS, RATCLIFF, STUBBS,
SUBECK, C. ANDERSON, BALDEH, CLANCY, DRAKE, MADISON, MOORE OMOKUNDE,
NOVAK, OHNSTAD, SHELTON, SINICKI and PALMERI, cosponsored by Senators
SPREITZER, ROYS, CARPENTER, AGARD, HESSELBEIN and LARSON. Referred to
Committee on Rules.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
Relating to: commemorating the exemplary life and service of R. Richard “Dick”
Wagner.
Whereas, Roland Richard “Dick” Wagner was born on September 29, 1943, in
Dayton, Ohio, and passed away on December 13, 2021, in Madison, Wisconsin; and
Whereas, Dick Wagner moved to Wisconsin in 1965 to attend graduate school
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he graduated with a Master of Arts
in 1967 and his Ph.D. in 1971; and
Whereas, until his retirement from state service in 2005, Dick Wagner served
Wisconsin for 33 years, including as a budget analyst at the Department of
Administration; and
Whereas, Dick Wagner was elected the first openly gay member of the Dane
County Board in 1980 and served until 1994, including four years as Chair of the
Board; and
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LRB-2703/1
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2023 - 2024 Legislature
Whereas, Dick Wagner was instrumental in enacting the City of Madison's gay
rights ordinance in 1974 and Dane County's nondiscrimination ordinance in 1980,
which paved the way for Wisconsin's statewide nondiscrimination law in 1982; and
Whereas, Dick Wagner's commitment to leadership extended far beyond his
own political career through mentorship, advocacy, and service on countless
community groups and boards; and
Whereas, Dick Wagner authored two groundbreaking books recounting the
history of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, We've Been Here All Along: Wisconsin's Early Gay
History and Coming Out, Moving Forward: Wisconsin's Recent Gay History, in 2019
and 2020, respectively; and
Whereas, Dick Wagner was recognized for his public service as the first
recipient of Madison's Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Civility in Public Discourse Award in
2007, and the City of Madison declared June 25, 2019, as R. Richard Wagner Day;
and
Whereas, Dick Wagner was known to friends and constituents as a kind and
generous person, who always treated others with dignity and respect; and
Whereas, Dick Wagner's life and influence will continue to be an inspiration
through his books, his work, his bravery, and the work of those whom he mentored;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the members of the
Wisconsin Legislature recognize and commemorate the exemplary life and service
of R. Richard “Dick” Wagner.
(END)
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