Oral History Interview, Barbara Lightner (0997)

Abstract

In her interview on July 14, 2010, with Andrea Rottmann, Ms. Lightner discusses her activism for the passage of the consenting adults and anti-discrimination bills in Wisconsin in the 1970s and early 1980s. She talks about the following topics: Madison’s local gay rights ordinance, the repeal effort conducted by Reverends Wayne Dillabaugh and Richard Pritchard, the role of supportive local clergy, Madison individuals and groups that became active to save the local ordinance, and her work as coordinator for The United. She extensively discusses David Clarenbach and his relationship to the lesbian and gay community in Madison. Lightner mentions state-wide organizations that contributed to the passage of the gay rights/anti-discrimination and sexual privacy/consenting adults bills. Also, she discusses Milwaukee activist Leon Rouse and the Committee for Fundamental Judeo-Christian Human Rights and their efforts to get Archbishop Weakland’s and other mainline church leaders’ support. In addition, Lightner suggests further interview partners from the Milwaukee and Madison lesbian and gay, feminist, and liberal communities. This interview was conducted for the interviewer’s master thesis, and for inclusion into the UW-Madison Oral History Program.