MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered his weekly radio address celebrating Pride Month in Wisconsin. June is recognized as Pride Month in Wisconsin and throughout the United States. Pride Month originally began as a recognition of and tribute to the Stonewall Uprising in 1969 and has become an annual, month-long celebration and recognition of the LGBTQ community. This year’s Pride Month also coincides with the 10th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, which affirmed the equal right to marriage for same-sex couples in all 50 states in June 2015.
Last week, Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #264, ordering that the Progress Pride Flag be raised over the Wisconsin State Capitol during the month of June, and celebrated the start of Pride Month with the seventh annual Pride Flag Raising over the Wisconsin State Capitol. A video of this year’s Pride Flag raising can be found here.
Gov. Evers ordered the Rainbow Pride Flag to fly over the East Wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol for the first time in state history in 2019. Since then, the Rainbow Pride Flag has flown over the Capitol each year for the month of June until 2022, when Gov. Evers raised the Progress Pride Flag over the State Capitol for the first time. An iteration of the widely recognized Rainbow Pride Flag, the Progress Pride Flag was created to symbolize the inclusion of marginalized communities within the LGBTQ community. The Progress Pride Flag includes additional stripes forming a chevron pattern that represent LGBTQ individuals of color and the transgender community, as well as those who are living with and who have been lost to HIV/AIDS.
The Progress Pride Flag will not disrupt other flags that regularly fly over the State Capitol building. The U.S. flag and Wisconsin state flag will continue flying on the East Wing flagpole above the Progress Pride Flag. The POW-MIA flag will continue flying on the North Wing flagpole as it does every day.
Hey there, folks! Governor Evers here.
I am jazzed to once again kick off Pride Month in Wisconsin and celebrate our incredible LGBTQ+ community.
This year marks our seventh annual Pride celebration, and while we all look forward to Pride Month and raising the Pride Flag above the Capitol every year, this year, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in Wisconsin and in America.
So, today, and this June, we’re celebrating 10 years of visibility, 10 years of love, and 10 years of continued bravery, activism, and advocacy together.
Folks, when the Pride Flag flies above the People’s House, it sends a clear and unequivocal message that Wisconsin recognizes and celebrates LGBTQ Wisconsinites and Americans.
Wisconsin has always led the way in the fight for LGBTQ liberty and equality—and we sure as heck are not going to turn back now.
In this state, we only know one direction to go, and that’s Forward.
So, we will not be silent, we will not be quiet, we will fight—not just to protect the rights and freedoms that so many fought hard to secure, but for all those that are still long overdue.
Every day, but especially this month, we reaffirm our commitment to striving to be a place where every LGBTQ kid, person, and family can be bold in their truth and be safe, treated with dignity and respect, and welcomed without fear of persecution, judgment, or discrimination. Period.
I promised long ago that, as governor, I would always fight to protect LGBTQ Wisconsinites with every tool and every power I have.
I’ll never stop keeping that promise.
So, you know that no matter who you are, what you believe, who you love, or how you express your truest, most authentic self, you are a family here. You belong here. You are welcome home here.
So, thank you, and happy Pride, Wisconsin.
An online version of this release is available here.
