2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
LRB-2703/1
CMH:klm
2023 ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION 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.
1 Relating to: commemorating the exemplary life and service of R. Richard “Dick”
2 Wagner.
3 Whereas, Roland Richard “Dick” Wagner was born on September 29, 1943, in
4 Dayton, Ohio, and passed away on December 13, 2021, in Madison, Wisconsin; and
5 Whereas, Dick Wagner moved to Wisconsin in 1965 to attend graduate school
6 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he graduated with a Master of Arts
7 in 1967 and his Ph.D. in 1971; and
8 Whereas, until his retirement from state service in 2005, Dick Wagner served
9 Wisconsin for 33 years, including as a budget analyst at the Department of
10 Administration; and
11 Whereas, Dick Wagner was elected the first openly gay member of the Dane
12 County Board in 1980 and served until 1994, including four years as Chair of the
13 Board; and
 LRB-2703/1
2023 - 2024 Legislature -2- CMH:klm
1 Whereas, Dick Wagner was instrumental in enacting the City of Madison's gay
2 rights ordinance in 1974 and Dane County's nondiscrimination ordinance in 1980,
3 which paved the way for Wisconsin's statewide nondiscrimination law in 1982; and
4 Whereas, Dick Wagner's commitment to leadership extended far beyond his
5 own political career through mentorship, advocacy, and service on countless
6 community groups and boards; and
7 Whereas, Dick Wagner authored two groundbreaking books recounting the
8 history of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, We've Been Here All Along: Wisconsin's Early Gay
9 History and Coming Out, Moving Forward: Wisconsin's Recent Gay History, in 2019
10 and 2020, respectively; and
11 Whereas, Dick Wagner was recognized for his public service as the first
12 recipient of Madison's Jeffrey Clay Erlanger Civility in Public Discourse Award in
13 2007, and the City of Madison declared June 25, 2019, as R. Richard Wagner Day;
14 and
15 Whereas, Dick Wagner was known to friends and constituents as a kind and
16 generous person, who always treated others with dignity and respect; and
17 Whereas, Dick Wagner's life and influence will continue to be an inspiration
18 through his books, his work, his bravery, and the work of those whom he mentored;
19 now, therefore, be it
20 Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the members of the
21 Wisconsin Legislature recognize and commemorate the exemplary life and service
22 of R. Richard “Dick” Wagner.
23 (END)