Wisconsin Rainbow Families

Wisconsin Rainbow Families (also known as Rainbow Families Wisconsin) was a volunteer organization and community space dedicated to supporting LGBT families and friends located throughout the state of Wisconsin. The organization's goal was to bring Wisconsin's gay and lesbian families together, often using the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center as their home base.  By offering a central place to communicate, make friends, discover, educate and organize, Wisconsin Rainbow Families lessened the social pressures experienced by same-sex parents in traditional social environments. 

Through sports outings, water park weekends, summer picnics, beach days, farm visits, field trips, and other playdates, Wisconsin Rainbow Families maintained a steady calendar of familiy activities. The Community Board became a support network for buying, selling, seeking advice, and organizing around important causes.  They also curated a list of LGBTQ-friendly family resources by region, including community centers, education groups, family planning, and legal support.  

For years, Rainbow Families had a consistent presence at PrideFest Milwaukee for many years, seeking additional parents to grow their community of care.

Rainbow Families seems to have disbanded sometime in 2015.

In 2016, two Milwaukee parents founded Miltown LGBT Families, now known as OutFamilies, which continues the services that Wisconsin Rainbow Families once offered.

Note: two other "Rainbow Families" organizations have incorporated in Wisconsin, including one in Green Bay and one in Madison (later Mason, WI) that disbanded in 2010.  It is unknown what, if any, connection these groups had with the Milwaukee organization.