Fitzpatrick created, and relied on, LGBT community in Milwaukee by playing softball. She doesn't think of herself as a political person. She was never particularly out at work. She would have told anyone who asked, but the subject never seemed to come up. She calls herself a "gay woman" rather than a "lesbian" because she thinks the word "gay" captures it all - and any term we use, according to Fitzpatrick, should include everyone.

Fitzpatrick remembers getting softball started in Milwaukee when she used to hang out at a bar called the Finale on Center Street in the early 1970s. She told some of the guys there that women could beat them at softball. The guys just laughed, so Fitzpatrick went to the Beer Garden, rounded up some women, and challenged the guys to a game. She recalls the first game taking place at Wick Field, 51st and Vliet.

Soon after that, a league formed. It was well organized, with published schedules, from early on. Fitzpatrick played first base and pitched in her early days, but mostly coached and managed for over thirty years.

Softball may not seem very political, but in order for LGBT persons to play, they have to feel comfortable assembling in public places and using public resources such as parks and ball diamonds. People whose citizenship is seriously in doubt, people who live in constant fear of police harassment or other violence, will not create a softball league. So softball is part of the LGBT movement.

Shirley came out to her mother almost by accident. Her mother thought she was seeing a married man. Fitzpatrick explained that she was actually hanging out with a woman.

Shirley Fitzpatrick is retired now, after 32.5 years working for the City of Milwaukee in the Records office. She was born and raised in Milwaukee.