Town board member Travis Austin, who organized the gathering, authored a code of conduct for his colleagues and is now running for county board
Published by Isthmus
During COVID, Travis Austin started cycling around the town of Berry, located about 20 miles northwest of Madison. He says that he often felt unsafe due to the deteriorating roads in the rural community and decided to run for the Berry town board to do something about it. He was 21 at the time and a student at UW-Madison.
He ran unsuccessfully as a write-in candidate in 2021. But in 2022 he beat incumbent Duane Haag to snag a seat on the board.
Since then Austin has worked to increase funding for local roads, and expand internet access for local residents. Small-town politics are eventful, he says, but he was not prepared for what happened this June when he decided to host a party for Pride at the town hall. He planned and expected a small, happy gathering.
“It was just supposed to be a fun way to celebrate and bring people together,” Austin says in an interview. “It’s not always that easy in rural areas.”
Austin says that on June 30, about 50 people showed up to support the LGBTQ community and celebrate Pride Month. His aunt grilled brats and provided treats at the event, which drew LGBTQ members and allies, including state Sen. Dianne Hesselbein and Dane County Supv. Michele Doolan.
Then the police showed up.
Haag, who returned to the board in 2023 after running uncontested for an open seat, acknowledged at a July 17 board meeting that he was the one who called 911. He said he did so after receiving a complaint about “unauthorized flags” planted in the town hall’s lawn.
Party attendees said at the meeting the responding deputies quickly realized there was no emergency and left, but that the police presence brought some party-goers to tears. Some accused Haag of harassment.
“It’s bigotry, that’s what it is,” said Doolan.
The flags that prompted the complaint were rainbow LGBTQ pride flags stuck into the ground with PVC pipe, Austin says. “They were temporary, just decoration. What would have happened if he’d called 911 on a kid’s birthday party for ‘unauthorized balloons’?”
The town of Berry incident coincides with a rise in anti-LGBT sentiment across the country, with other rural communities in Wisconsin seeing pushback against LGBTQ pride events. On July 29, a right-wing group called “the blood tribe” protested a Pride event in Watertown. “Pride in the Park” attendees said the protestors brandished swastika flags.
There are also pending bills targeting transgender people in several states. In Wisconsin, Republicans in the state Legislature have introduced several anti-LGBTQ bills, among them two that would bar transgender women and girls from competing in female sports on the K-12 and collegiate levels. None are likely to be signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
In response to the actions of the town board chair, Austin introduced a code of conduct at the town board’s Aug. 21 meeting prohibiting harassment and discrimination by town board members. He says Duane Haag abused the powers of his office when he directed police to the Pride event. “It was all the evidence any township should need to impose ethical guidelines for themselves and I hope other townships adopt them as well going forward.”
The code of conduct passed 3-2, with board supervisors Haag and David Evert opposing the measure.
Haag said at the July 17 town of Berry board meeting that he never saw the flags and had no idea they were pride flags. He also said he didn’t know that Austin was planning a gathering at the hall, though Austin said he notified Haag and other board members weeks in advance that the event would take place.
“I work in my shop,” Haag said. “As a matter of fact, when the complaints came in I had just gotten back to the shop. I can’t be everywhere and I can’t do everything. And I can’t remember every little detail. Sorry.”
Haag said he doesn’t have an email, but at the meeting the town Clerk Brenda Kahl confirmed Haag had been informed of the event.
Austin says his decision to host a Pride gathering was motivated in part by the town board rejecting on June 19 his motion to fly the rainbow flag from the town hall flagpole in honor of Pride Month.
The board’s decision departed from its previous flag policy, which had mandated flying the American flag but allowed other flags such as those for sports teams, states and cities, and local events. At the meeting, the board voted to change these rules to only allow the American flag.
Austin says in an interview it is especially important for LGBTQ youth in small, rural areas to know they are supported.
“So many people I knew (when I was young) didn’t come out in high school because they didn’t feel safe. “If I had seen the pride flag flying in Berry when I was in high school, I think that would have changed my perception of my community,” he says.
Berry resident Penni Klein, a former police officer, says in an interview that seeing a law enforcement presence at pride events could put younger members of the community at risk of being unwillingly outed, adding that there are very high suicide rates among LGBTQ youth.
“Many of my friends were tossed out on the street when their parents found out (they were LGBTQ),” she says. “And some of these kids here, if that had gotten out, you know, who knows? They did not need any more pressure or to feel like they don’t belong.”
Klein was at the event, but says she arrived after the police left. She collected the rainbow flags and now has them planted on the edge of her llama farm by the highway.
“They’re not going anywhere,” she says in an interview. “Those flags are going to have a few extra purposes in the near future. For people in rural areas, it’s important to find our community.”
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett, who appeared at the July 17 town of Berry board meeting, criticized the use of 911 for a non-emergency.
“Our resources are very limited and we have a large area that we cover, so when we do respond to a call (that isn’t an emergency), it takes away resources and deputies that could have been used someplace else,” he said.
In a later interview, Barrett adds that some people have used 911 calls as a form of intimidation against vulnerable communities.
“We have to educate people on the dangers of that, because anger and hate gets created based on us responding,” he says. “It’s also important to advocate for those that are underrepresented in our community, those that don’t have the strong voices when they’re being treated unfairly. And so when they are being treated unfairly they have places to speak their dismay.”
Austin graduated from UW-Madison in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is applying to law school and also running for the Dane County Board seat vacated by Olivia Xistris-Songpanya.
“I like the smaller local government stuff, because not all the stupid national politics stuff…is what actually impacts people's lives.”
In local government, he adds, “partisan tensions don’t usually arise because everyone usually just wants what’s best for everybody,” he says. “But this issue just struck a massive chord.”
[Editor's note: This article was updated with the correct spelling for town of Berry supervisor David Evert.]