Republican Governor Who Signed First Statewide Gay Rights Law Dies

Log Cabin Republicans mourn the death of former Wisconsin Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus.  He signed the nation's first statewide gay rights law in 1982. The law made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment, and public accommodations. 

When he signed the bill, he said, "It is a fundamental tenet of the Republican Party that government ought not intrude in the private lives of individuals where no state purpose is served, and there is nothing more private or intimate than who you live with and who you love."  Dreyfus was 81.

"The fact of the matter is we live in a free society and freedom means freedom for everybody. We don't get to choose, and shouldn't be able to choose and say, 'You get to live free, but you don't.' People should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into. That matter is regulated by the states. I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions, and that's appropriate. I don't think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area." — Vice President Dick Cheney

Important words to read from our current VP. As a Republican I support a small federal government, state autonomy, and the value of the constitution. There is no place for a federal marriage amendment in a free society.