We've Been Here All Along: Wisconsin's Early Gay History

Spanning the decades of the early twentieth century up to Stonewall, We've Been Here All Along is the first of two groundbreaking volumes on gay history in Wisconsin from R. Richard Wagner. "We've Been Here All Along is an extraordinary achievement, an impressively wide-ranging narrative, a grand act of rescuing hidden histories from archival obscurity. R. Richard Wagner brings to this work a powerful blend of strengths: his own life experience as a gay man richly engaged in civic life, his intelligent and sensitive insight, and his singular savvy regarding political dynamics. Wagner's detailed portraits of selected individuals in the early and middle twentieth century are fascinating. In complementing these portraits with illuminating accounts of societal attitudes and practices concerning 'sexual deviance, ' he tells a compelling story of Wisconsin life through the lens of its gay citizens' complex circumstances." --Will Fellows, Author of Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest Praise for Volume 2, Coming Out, Moving Forward "Thank goodness for R. Richard Wagner's careful documentation and historic recounting of the push for LGBT rights in Wisconsin. Otherwise, it would be difficult to comprehend, by today's standards, the depth and breadth of the prejudice. Wisconsin was on the forefront, albeit with fits and starts, of the fight for equal rights, thanks to the tenacity and hard work of people like Wagner. I am proud to have been a chapter in this movement." --Anthony S. Earl, Governor of Wisconsin, 1983-1987