Press Release: ICYMI: Gov. Evers Honored with GSAFE Legacy Award for His Ongoing Dedication to Support, Uplift, and Protect LGBTQ Wisconsinites, Families, and Kids 

State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 06/16/2026 10:59 AM CDT
Office of Governor Tony Evers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2026
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov 
 
ICYMI: Gov. Evers Honored with GSAFE Legacy Award for His Ongoing Dedication to Support, Uplift, and Protect LGBTQ Wisconsinites, Families, and Kids 
 
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers kicked off Pride Month by being honored with the GSAFE Legacy Award at the GSAFE 30th Annual Celebration of Leadership in Madison earlier this month. The governor received the award in recognition of his years of dedicated advocacy and efforts to support, uplift, and protect LGBTQ Wisconsinites, families, and kids.

Gov. Evers speaks and receives award at GSAFE 30th Annual Celebration of  Leadership in Madison.  Gov. Evers speaks and receives award at GSAFE 30th Annual Celebration of  Leadership in Madison.
     Gov. Evers speaks and receives award at GSAFE 30th Annual Celebration of  Leadership in Madison.
                 Photos by Melanie Jones of Melanie Renee Photography for Our Lives magazine.

“Whether it’s ensuring our schools are safe spaces for our LGBTQ kids or expanding access to LGBTQ history and promoting advocacy, GSAFE has been leading the way. That’s why I am incredibly humbled that you have chosen to honor me with this legacy award—what an incredible privilege,” said Gov. Evers when receiving his award. “I promised long ago that, as governor, I would always fight to protect LGBTQ Wisconsinites with every tool and every power that I have, and it’s a promise I’ve been proud to keep. So, I want to leave all of you with this: I will never stop keeping that promise—not now, not tomorrow, not next January, not ever. I will always be in your corner. You can count on it.”

Gov. Evers proclaimed June 2026 as “LGBTQ Pride Month” throughout the state of Wisconsin, and earlier this month, the governor proudly raised the Progress Pride Flag over the East Wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol Building for the eighth year in a row. Gov. Evers also shared a video message to LGBTQ Wisconsinites, advocates, and allies in celebration of Pride Month.

GSAFE is a non-profit LGBTQ advocacy organization based in Madison. For the past three decades, GSAFE has been championing efforts to create safe and inclusive school environments for LGBTQ youth, offering youth leadership opportunities, school staff training, and working with local organizations, schools, state agencies, and more to uplift LGBTQ kids, families, and communities across the state.

“GSAFE is incredibly proud to honor Gov. Evers with the Celebration of Leadership Legacy Award. Long before he was governor, Tony Evers was a champion for LGBTQ+ students across Wisconsin, working to ensure that every young person in Wisconsin—regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity—has the opportunity to thrive in a safe and supportive educational environment,” said GSAFE. “In a climate where LGBTQ+ youth are facing unprecedented challenges, Gov. Evers has been a fierce advocate for our community. His vetoes have protected the rights and dignity of transgender youth. His actions continue to remind LGBTQ+ youth that they are seen, valued, and belong just as they are. This Legacy Award is a small token of our immense gratitude for his enduring partnership and courageous leadership.”

 Gov. Evers has been a consistent and vocal champion for the LGBTQ community during his time as governor. The governor’s first action after being sworn into office was signing Executive Order #1, which prohibited discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, as well as other classes such as age, race, religion, color, disability, military or veteran status, national origin, etc., in state employment, public services, state contracts, and grants. Executive Order #1 also directed state agencies to develop policies to ensure all people are afforded equal opportunity, along with other measures to prohibit discrimination and harassment.

Additionally, in June 2019, for the first time in state history, Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #29 to raise the Rainbow Pride Flag over the East Wing of the State Capitol building and throughout the state of Wisconsin in recognition of Pride Month and to send a clear and unequivocal message that Wisconsin is a welcoming and inclusive place for all. Since then, the Rainbow Pride Flag has flown over the Capitol each year for the month of June until June of 2022, when Gov. Evers raised the Progress Pride Flag over the State Capitol for the first time. The Progress Pride Flag has flown over the Capitol during the month of June each year since. 

During the Pride Month celebration in June 2021, Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #121 and directed Evers Administration cabinet agencies to use gender-neutral language whenever practicable in external documents. Gov. Evers also signed Executive Order #122, requiring the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Wisconsin Department of Corrections, and the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families to take appropriate steps to expressly disallow payment of state and federal funds allocated by their respective agencies for conversion therapy for minors. Numerous medical associations and professional organizations oppose the practice of conversion therapy, and according to research conducted by the Family Acceptance Project, adolescent conversion efforts contribute to higher risks of depression and suicide for LGBTQ youth. 

Further, over the last seven years, the governor has spoken out against and pledged to veto numerous bills targeting LGBTQ Wisconsinites, including bills discriminating against transgender kids and athletes and restricting education around LGBTQ issues and history in schools. Most recently, Gov. Evers celebrated International Transgender Day of Visibility in March by vetoing five anti-LGBTQ bills targeting Wisconsin’s transgender and gender nonconforming kids, making good on his promise to veto any anti-LGBTQ legislation sent to his desk that hurts LGBTQ kids and Wisconsinites. The governor vetoed the bills in a private ceremony at the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison, surrounded by LGBTQ kids, families, advocates, and community members.

Previously, in December 2023, Gov. Evers vetoed another anti-LGBTQ bill passed by Republican lawmakers that would have banned gender-affirming care for minor patients with gender dysphoria. Gender-affirming care is recognized by most major medical associations as the evidence-based treatment for transgender and gender nonconforming youth with gender dysphoria. The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have all stated that gender-affirming care saves lives. Gov. Evers also used his constitutional veto authority during the 2023-25 biennial budget process to protect access to gender-affirming care for Wisconsinites, blocking a Republican-backed provision to prevent the state’s Medicaid program from covering gender-affirming care.

Additionally, in April 2024, Gov. Evers vetoed Assembly Bill 377, which targeted transgender and gender nonconforming youth by banning them from participating on school athletic teams that align with their gender identity.

Last year, Gov. Evers also celebrated the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 5-2 decision in Evers v. Marklein II, which ruled statutes giving a legislative committee ‘the power to pause, object to, or suspend administrative rules for varying lengths of time, both before and after promulgation’ are facially unconstitutional. Thanks to this ruling, numerous administrative rules directed by the Evers Administration that were previously delayed due to the Legislature, including rules to ban the use of state funding for conversion therapy, were found legal and were put into practice.  

The governor’s reception of the GSAFE Legacy Award also comes as attacks against transgender and nonbinary individuals, as well as attacks against the LGBTQ community as a whole, continue to persist across the country. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, currently, there are over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills that have been introduced throughout the United States so far in 2026, including several bills in Wisconsin that target transgender individuals, specifically youth. 

President Donald Trump and the Trump Administration have also made it a priority to target and attack LGBTQ Americans, underscoring how Gov. Evers’ continued efforts to defend, protect, and keep LGBTQ Wisconsinites safe are more important than ever. Since January 2025, the Trump Administration has produced a number of anti-LGBTQ misinformation campaigns, including orders to roll back anti-discrimination policies, cut essential health programs, efforts, and policies to meet the health needs of LGBTQ individuals, restrict transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care or participate on school athletic teams that align with their gender identity, ban and remove transgender individuals from military service, and much more.
 
An online version of this release is available here.
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