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.