United Nations’ 2025 International Day of Peace Event

The United Nations Association of Greater Milwaukee is celebrating the 2025 International Day of Peace with a panel discussion, which includes LWVMC President Peg Schrader. The panel will address “Peace, Democracy, and the Challenges of Funding the United Nations.” The event is free and open to the public.

Saturday, September 20th, 10–11:30 am.

Attend in-person at Zao MKE Church, 2319 E. Kenwood Blvd., Milwaukee, in the 2nd Floor Conference Room, or attend virtually through this Zoom link:

us02web.zoom.us/j/7165675210?omn=87879517627

More information here.

Did you know that the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) plans to acquire licenses for Facial Recognition Technology (FRT)? Facial recognition uses AI technology and biometric data to identify human faces against a database of faces. The MPD plans to trade 2.5 million mugshots for “free” licenses from the software company Biometrica. FRT threatens everyone’s personal privacy and civil liberties. It is a racially biased technology that has a high percentage of misidentifying Black, AAPI, and nonbinary people. 

If you reside in the City of Milwaukee, we encourage you to contact your alderperson and Mayor Johnson and urge them to ban the Milwaukee Police Department’s current and future use of Facial Recognition Technology. With the permission of the Milwaukee Turners, we are sharing sample call and email scripts that can be used to contact your alderperson and the Mayor. 

To learn more about the Mass Incarceration Committee, contact Emily Sterk at e.sterk@lwvmilwaukee.org

Local Action - Our League supports the installation of EV charging stations in County Parks. Contact your County Supervisor to support installation in our County Parks.

Addressing climate change is an all-on-board approach. EV charging stations will not only help address climate change but also help protect both our County Parks and Lake Michigan from the devastating impacts of climate change. 

On Sept 9, the Lakefront Development Advisory Commission passed a measure in support of installing 4 EV charging stations in an existing parking lot of Veterans Park. The measure will go to a Milwaukee County Committee and, if supported, will go on to the County Board of Supervisors. Some are concerned about the installation in Veterans Park; the LWVMC believes those concerns should be carefully considered yet remain subordinate to addressing climate change. There is no planet B!    

Federal Action - URGENT!  There is still time to sign this petition to the EPA and add your comments regarding the repeal of the underpinnings of the Clean Air Act and its air pollution and climate regulations Use this link.

LWVUS signed on to a JOINT STATEMENT OPPOSING EPA Director Lee Zeldin’s  POLLUTERS FIRST AGENDA. About 200 organizations signed onto this statement.

Join us at this League Immigration Advocacy Committee co-sponsored event

Immigrants in Crisis: Our Stories

Sunday, September 21, 5:00-7:00 

United Methodist Church of Whitefish Bay

819 East Silver Spring Drive

This event will include a panel discussion and facilitated table conversations.

Register here: Immigrants in Crisis

Access to Contraception Under Attack

By Charlie Gaebler-Uhing, M.D., Co-Chair, LWVMC Reproductive Rights Committee

Most of us realize abortion rights are under attack, but few realize there is a quiet multi-prong attack on contraception, an attack that relies on stigmatizing contraception use, spreading mis/disinformation, and restricting access. A recent New York Times article identified how conservative influencers are targeting college-age and young professional women, encouraging them to stop their contraceptive methods because of negative impacts to their health and fertility. Both statements are untrue. 

The truth:  Women who are long-term users of birth control methods have lower rates of reproductive cancers than non-users. No contraceptive methods have been linked to increases in infertility. In fact, all methods have predictable return to baseline fertility within weeks or months. To learn more about current stigmatization and attacks on birth control read a recent Guttmacher Institute piece.

LGBTQ+ Rights:  Lost and Restricted

Until early 2025, LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender people, were seeing increased protections under federal and Wisconsin law. These protections included the right to gender identity recognition in various settings (schools, workplaces, federal programs), access to gender-affirming healthcare, full participation in sports, and protection against discrimination. However, since January 2025, new federal executive orders and state legislation have rolled back or restricted many of these rights.

Federal Level Restrictions:

• Gender Identity Recognition: Federal policy now exclusively recognizes male/female sex, eliminating recognition of gender identity.
• Funding Cuts: Federal funding for programs supporting gender-affirming care or "gender ideology" has been cut.
• Gender-Affirming Care for Minors: A ban on gender-affirming care for minors is now linked to federal funding restrictions.
• Sports Participation: Schools and colleges risk losing federal funds if they permit transgender girls/women to play on female teams.
• Workplace Protections: Federal contractors and employees are no longer guaranteed protections against LGBTQ+ discrimination.
• Health Insurance: Starting in 2026, gender-affirming care will be excluded from federal employee health benefit plans.

Wisconsin Level Restrictions:

• Gender-Affirming Care for Minors: Proposed legislation (AB 104 / SB 157) aims to ban gender-affirming care for minors.
• Sports Bans: Bills (AB 377 / AB 378) seek to prohibit transgender girls/women from participating on female school or college teams.
• Pronoun/Name Restrictions in Schools: Educators must now obtain parental permission before using a student’s chosen name or pronouns (AB 103 / SB 120).
• Conversion Therapy: Legislative efforts have blocked a statewide ban on conversion therapy, leaving LGBTQ+ youth vulnerable.

To keep informed of the legislation affecting LGBTQ+ rights, Fair Wisconsin’s website has a great Bill Tracker: fairwisconsin.com/bills-to-watch

Money, Politics and the First Amendment

Friday, October 3, 2025, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

UW-Madison Law School

975 Bascom Mall, Room 2260 Madison, WI 53706

In-Person and Virtual Register here.

The State Democracy Research Initiative invites you to attend “Money, Politics, and the First Amendment” with a reception to follow. This event will take place in-person in room 2260 in the UW Law School, with the option to attend virtually. The panel will focus on the impacts of increasingly expensive elections, and the tension between campaign finance regulation and free speech. There will be an in-person reception to follow. Our panelists will include Attorney Benjamin Ginsberg (Hoover Institution), Attorney Saurav Ghosh (Campaign Legal Center), Professor Raymond La Raja (UMass Amherst, Political Science), and Professor Abby Wood (USC Gould School of Law), with Professor Barry Burden (UW-Madison, Political Science) moderating.

Waukesha County Volunteer Coordinator for VOTE411 Needed

VOTE411 is a nonpartisan online voter guide provided by the League of Women Voters Education Fund. In order to produce this guide for all voters, LWV needs lots of help: 

·      Community volunteers contact municipal or school board clerks to get candidate information

·      Coordinators for Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties work with volunteers and with clerks to collect this information and to relay it to tech team volunteers who post candidates and their contact information to the system

·      The League invites the candidates to participate in the online voter guide and answer questions that are important to their constituents

·      The candidates respond to our questions and that information is on the VOTE411 site.

The Waukesha County Volunteer Coordinator position for VOTE411 is open. Experience with VOTE411 is helpful, whether as a community volunteer or otherwise, but not essential. If you are interested or want more information, please contact Beth Lueck at b.lueck@lwvmilwaukee.org.

We have been working with Milwaukee Public Schools to schedule voter registration in all 25 high schools and are almost there!  We are pleased so many of you have responded to our call for volunteers but we still need help at these events. Please consider volunteering. 

Many students will be eligible to register—those who will turn 18 by the next election on February 17, 2026 can sign up. This is an extraordinary opportunity to help young people take a huge step into civic life.

If you’re already on our volunteer list, watch for emails announcing specific school registration dates and sign up where you can help. If you’re not yet on the list, we invite you to join us! Just review the slides here: Voter Registration in Milwaukee and Waukesha Area High Schools2.pdf and then complete the form at the end. Once you’re on the list, you’ll receive email updates about volunteer opportunities. Together with the faculty and student helpers, we can reach students in 100% of MPS high schools. 

Gail Sklodowska, VP of Advocacy is attending this open-to-the-public event and would be happy to meet up with other members and/or carpool.  Please sign-up below and contact me at g.sklodowska@lwvmilwaukee.org to make arrangements. 

Join us at our 2025 Annual Meeting as we continue the fight to protect civil rights and liberties in Wisconsin. Hear from Executive Director Dr. Melinda Brennan about the future of the affiliate and its work, the threats to democracy and our rights, and how you can get involved in this critical time.

2025 ACLU-WI ANNUAL MEETING

Thursday, October 16
5:30 p.m. Registration | 6 p.m. Program Begins*
The Best Place – Historic Pabst Brewery – Blue Ribbon Hall
907 W. Juneau Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53233

*A link to the virtual meeting will be provided for registered attendees prior to the event.

Appetizers and a cash bar will be available in-person. Seating is limited. The Best Place is fully accessible and nearby street parking is available.

 Please RSVP no later than Friday, October 3, for in-person attendance and no later than Wednesday, October 15, for virtual attendance.

The Milwaukee Turners are excited to announce that Alec Karakatsanis, author of Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News, will be joining us for a Vel Phillips Forum on Wednesday, October 8. Registration is now open here.

In preparation for the forum, on September 25 our Confronting Mass Incarceration team will host a book discussion and outline how copaganda is used in Milwaukee news. Sign-up to attend the discussion here.