Who we are

The Fair Wisconsin Education Fund (FWEF) was formed in 2002 as a 501 (c) (3) organization with a mission to educate the general public about the harms of discrimination towards LGBT individuals and build more inclusive communities and workplaces for LGBT Wisconsinites. FWEF employs legislative drafting, communications, outreach and legal challenge preparation to reach these goals.

In 2006, FWEF and Fair Wisconsin Inc. organized a massive effort and diverse coalition to fight Wisconsin’s constitutional amendment banning marriage equality and civil unions. We educated hundreds of thousands of citizens about the dangerous effects of the amendment, built a statewide sustainable grassroots infrastructure and developed relationships with key elected officials around the state. Unfortunately the amendment passed, but the foundation we built during the campaign in every community in the state left us in a strong position to accomplish our ultimate goal of equality for LGBT Wisconsinites.

In 2009, we built another coalition with our national and regional allies to protect domestic partners. Wisconsin became the first state in the Midwest to protect same-sex couples via legislation and made us the first state with an existing constitutional amendment banning both marriage equality and civil unions to enact domestic partnerships.

Building coalitions with both progressive allies and LGBT partner organizations is the cornerstone of Fair Wisconsin Education Fund’s success. This approach demonstrates the depth and breadth of support that LGBT issues and equality now have in Wisconsin. All of our entities are active partners in multiple coalitions, making Fair Wisconsin Education Fund uniquely positioned to represent LGBT interests in the larger progressive community.

With a statewide board of directors and a full-time staff, Fair Wisconsin Education Fund is also the Badger state’s representative in the Equality Federation, the national alliance of state-based LGBT advocacy organizations.