WiBOPM activists and drag performers. Photo: WiBOPM.
On April 25, activists and supporters from across southern Wisconsin gathered at the James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Hall to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement (WiBOPM or “We Bop ‘Em”). The joyful event emphasized solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community, featuring talks and a drag show.
The WiBOPM was established in the wake of the historic 2011 occupation of the Wisconsin State Capitol to resist then-Gov. Scott Walker’s plans to gut collective bargaining. At its height, more than 100,000 union workers and community members joined the protests.
Today, WiBOPM is a multigenerational group with statewide reach and much experience under its belt, from supporting strikes in Madison to protesting racist police terror in Milwaukee, from opposing ICE terror against immigrants to demanding an end to US wars.
Activists and allies traveled from cities and towns across southern Wisconsin to join the celebration, including members of the Burlington Coalition for Dismantling Racism Plus (BCDR+) and Indivisible Winnebago WI.
WiBOPM’s distinctive yellow banners and colorful protest signs, seen at protests and meetings throughout the state, were hung throughout the event space.
A representative of the James Reeb Unitarian Universalist congregation welcomed the crowd, explaining that Reeb was a minister murdered by white supremacists in Selma, Alabama, during the Civil Rights movement.
Kai Rasmussen of WiBOPM laid out the agenda for the evening, drawing special attention to the many photo displays highlighting the group’s history and the contributions of trans activists like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Leslie Feinberg. A table was set up for people to write solidarity messages to Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian community leader from Milwaukee, kidnapped by ICE on March 30.
WiBOPM founder and longtime labor organizer Bryan Pfeifer recounted how the group mobilized to protect the LGBTQIA+ community when the neo-Nazi “Blood Tribe” menaced the Watertown Pride event in July 2023. A few months later, WiBOPM organized a counter-protest that drove the fascists out when they attempted to march on the State Capitol in Madison.
Bianca Tomasini of the immigrant rights movement Voces de la Frontera said: ”We are very grateful for all the times you have been there with Voces and for your support building May Day. Our members appreciate the allies who are stepping up. It’s a big deal for them to know they are not alone.”
Joanna Weir, a Starbucks Workers United leader and WiBOPM activist, talked about the group’s work in solidarity with the Red Cup Rebellion, when baristas went on strike during the 2025 holiday season.
Ric Urrutia, a labor activist from Colorado who specializes in corporate research, spoke about how WiBOPM has organized teach-ins around the state to help local activists discover and expose the connections between big business, ICE, and data centers.
To mark the close of Lesbian Visibility Week, retired union member and WiBOPM activist Jana Bannon was honored for her contributions stretching back to the struggle to end the Vietnam War. Bannon was presented with a bouquet by WiBOPM’s Karissa Red Bear.
Struggle-La Lucha writer Melinda Butterfield was the keynote speaker, representing Women In Struggle-Mujeres En Lucha. Butterfield, visiting from New York City, was born and grew up in Wisconsin. “When I was a teenager in rural Wisconsin, I dreamed of finding an organization like this one,” she said. “I’m so glad it exists now.”
Butterfield spoke about the legacy of revolutionary transgender author and activist Leslie Feinberg for today’s struggle. Both Butterfield and Pfeifer worked with Feinberg, who passed away in 2014.
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“Solidarity is hard when it feels like you’re the only side showing up, when trans people’s health care and rights are being stripped away, and cisgender people, including many left and progressive organizations, seem mostly unaware and unconcerned,” Butterfield said.
“But Leslie Feinberg argued that, as hard as it may be, trans people can’t isolate ourselves from the rest of the working class. We’re a small population—about 1% of people in the US by current measures—and to advance, we need the solidarity of our working-class siblings. But equally important, to change society, they need us.
“The way that our very existence challenges the underpinnings of capitalist patriarchy; the way our difficult life experiences gives us empathy, resourcefulness, and incredible internal strength—these things are necessary for the broader movement if we are going to advance to a new, more humane system and save the planet.”
Capping off the celebration was a fierce and fiery drag show organized by Madison icon and trans activist Cass Marie Domino. Energetic performances by Andi Withani Domino, Jacq Infiniti-Hall, Cici Voyer, and Pony Boy, accompanied by DJ Ravyn, had the crowd clapping and jumping to their feet.
The event concluded with people taking stacks of leaflets and posters to distribute for May Day.
Another 15th anniversary event is planned for August 22 in Milwaukee. For more information and to get involved with WiBOPM, follow @wi.bopm on Instagram or visit wibailoutpeople.org.
