Since 1982, Wisconsin has protected lesbian, gay and bisexual people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. Most don’t know we were the first state in the country to pass a law saying you can’t be evicted, fired or harassed in public places because of who you love.

Even more people don’t know you can still suffer all of those terrible harms because of who you are – if you are transgender – in Wisconsin.

We believe it’s time to update and modernize our state laws to add nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity and expression. Until the day all transgender Wisconsinites are protected by law, we all stand to lose.

The Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Fair Wisconsin are proud to partner together to announce the formation of Wisconsin Business for Equality, a coalition of businesses committed to updating our statewide non-discrimination law to protect members of the transgender community.

Businesses know this isn’t just good for the bottom line, but that it is also the right thing to do. We are proud to have strong corporate partners as founding members of this campaign, including Froedtert Health, Kohler Co., ManpowerGroup, Milwaukee Bucks, and UW Health.

We know this is the right thing to do, but more importantly, the people of Wisconsin know this is the right thing to do.  The Wisconsin LGBT Chamber recently commissioned a poll that found that 63% of people in Wisconsin believe the state’s non-discrimination laws should be updated to protect transgender individuals.

We invite you to join us today as a member of the coalition and let our legislators know you support updating our non-discrimination laws to include gender identity and protection. You can sign up here to have your business listed as a supporter.

Working together, we can make sure Wisconsin is a competitive place to do business, but more importantly, to ensure that Wisconsin is a welcoming and inclusive place for all people – without regard to gender identity or expression.

Yours,

Jason Rae
President & CEO
Wisconsin LGBT Chamber

Megin McDonell
Executive Director
Fair Wisconsin

PS: Sign up here to be listed as a member of the Wisconsin Businesses for Equality coalition.