The lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenred (LGBT) movement sred two historic victori California the late 1970s. Dpe difficult odds, the movement succeed electg Harvey Milk as the first openly gay male ndidate to polil office the untry. The electn of Harvey Milk to the San Francis Board of Supervisors took place at time when anti-gay ballot iativ were beg approved by large majori of voters stat across the untry. Furthermore, the LGBT liberatn movement succeed featg an anti-gay ballot iative California 1978, Proposn 6. Based on extensive primary source rearch, this this argu that certa historil ndns, which activists had ltle ntrol over, ma the victori possible, namely, the prott movements and radilizatn of the 1960s, the massive migratn of LGBT people to San Francis, and the tablishment of district-based electns rather than cy-wi electns for the San Francis Board of Supervisors. California Senator John Briggs also ma the mistake of wrg Proposn 6 a way that most California voters regard as too extreme. In addn, activists ed progrsive left-wg strategi that proved to be cisive electg Milk and featg Proposn 6. Specifilly, LGBT activists formed alns wh unns, low-e workers, and opprsed groups, they anized visible mass monstratns, and thoands of LGBT me out of the closet and directly nonted the homophobic arguments of their opponents. Historians and rporate media outlets give much of the cred for shiftg public opn agast Proposn 6 to high profile policians and media outlets. However, this this monstrat that grassroots activists played the lead role shiftg public opn agast the iative, not the tablished policians or rporate media outlets.
Contents:
- CALIFORNIA PROPOSN 6, BAN ON LBIAN AND GAY TEACHERS INIATIVE (1978)
- CALIFORNIA TRIED TO BAN GAY TEACHERS 1978. EDUTORS AND ACTIVISTS WHO FOUGHT BACK FEAR HISTORY MAY BE REPEATG SELF.
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
- CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR
- COLUMN: HOW 2.8 LN CALIFORNIA VOTERS NEARLY BANNED GAY TEACHERS OM PUBLIC SCHOOLS
- HARVEY MILK’S GAY FREEDOM DAY SPEECH: ANNOTATED
- AN EXCERPT OM A 1978 BATE ABOUT CALIFORNIA PROPOSN 6, AN EFFORT TO BAN GAY MEN AND WOMEN OM WORKG CALIFORNIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
- WHEN REAGAN SAID GAY
CALIFORNIA PROPOSN 6, BAN ON LBIAN AND GAY TEACHERS INIATIVE (1978)
Proposn 6, better known as the Briggs Iniative, was the first attempt to rtrict the rights of lbian and gay Amerins by popular referendum. * gay proposition 6 *
Most recently, feral “Don’t Say Gay” legislatn was troduced by thirty-two Congrsnal members, a bill that “would affect all ferally fund facili and programs, which would clu public librari, ferally fund schools, ary bas and hospals. The next year John Briggs, a California bsman and member of the state legislature, troduced what would be known as Proposn 6, or the Briggs Iniative: the first attempt to rtrict the rights of lbian and gay Amerins by popular referendum.
For the reasons the state fds a pellg tert refg to employ and termatg the employment of a schoolteacher, teacher’s ai, school admistrator or unselor, subject to reasonable rtrictns and qualifitns, who engag public homosexual activy and/or public homosexual nduct directed at, or likely to e to the attentn of, schoolchildren or other school employe. 6 (a) The erng board of a school district shall refe to hire as an employee any person who has engaged public homosexual activy or public homosexual nduct should the board terme that said activy or nduct renrs the person unf for service.
CALIFORNIA TRIED TO BAN GAY TEACHERS 1978. EDUTORS AND ACTIVISTS WHO FOUGHT BACK FEAR HISTORY MAY BE REPEATG SELF.
* gay proposition 6 *
(b) For the purpos of this sectn, (1) “public homosexual activy” means the missn of an act fed subdivisn (a) of 286 of the Penal Co, or subdivisn (a) of sectn 288a of the Penal Co, upon any other person of the same sex, which is not discreet and not practiced private, whether or not such act, at the time of s missn, nstuted a crime;.
(2) “public homosexual nduct” means the advotg, solicg, imposg, enuragg or promotg of private or public homosexual activy directed at, or likely to e to the attentn of schoolchildren and/or other employe; and. (c) In evaluatg the public homosexual activy and/or the public homosexual nduct qutn for the purpos of termg an applint’s unfns for service as an employee, a board shall nsir the factors leated Sectn 44933. 5 (a) In addn to the grounds specified Sectns 44932, 44948 and 44949, or any other provisn of law, the missn of “public homosexual activy” or “public homosexual nduct” by an employee shall subject the employee to dismissal upon termatn by the board that said activy or nduct renrs the employee unf for service.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
The people who helped feat the Briggs Iniative told Insir they fear a recent rise anti-gay rhetoric means history may be repeatg self. * gay proposition 6 *
(b) For the purpos of this sectn (1) “public homosexual activy” means the missn of an act fed subdivisn (a) of 286 of the Penal Co, or subdivisn (a) of sectn 288a of the Penal Co, upon any other person of the same sex, which is not discreet and not practiced private, whether or not such act, at the time of s missn, nstuted a crime;. (c) Notwhstandg any other provisn of law regardg dismissal procr, the erng board, upon the filg of wrten charg that the person has mted public homosexual activy or public homosexual nduct, duly signed and verified by the person filg the charg, or upon wrten charg formulated by the erng board, shall set a probable e hearg on the charg wh fifteen (15) workg days after the filg or formulatn of wrten charg and forward notice to the employee of the charg not ls than ten (10) workg days prr to the probable e hearg. (f) Factors to be nsired by the board evaluatg the charg of public homosexual activy or public homosexual nduct qutn and termg unfns for service shall clu, but not be limed to (1) the likelihood that the activy or nduct may adversely affect stunts or other employe; (2) the proximy or remotens time or lotn of the nduct to the employee’s rponsibili; (3) the extenuatg or aggravatg circumstanc which, the judgement of the board, mt be examed weighg the evince; and (4) whether the nduct clud acts, words or eds, of a ntug or prehensive nature which would tend to enurage, promote, or dispose schoolchildren toward private or public homosexual activy or private or public homosexual nduct.
(g) If, by a preponrance of the evince, the employee is found to have engaged public homosexual activy or public homosexual nduct which renrs the employee unf for service, the employee shall be dismissed om employment. Specifilly, LGBT activists formed alns wh unns, low-e workers, and opprsed groups, they anized visible mass monstratns, and thoands of LGBT me out of the closet and directly nonted the homophobic arguments of their opponents. Proposn 6 (1978); Gay liberatn movement--California--San Francis--History--20th century; Gays--Polil aspects--California--San Francis--History--20th century; Homosexualy--California--San Francis--Public opn; Gay liberatn movement--California--History--20th century; Gays--Polil aspects--California--History--20th century; Homosexualy--California--Public opn.
CALIFORNIA STILL HAS AN ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE LAW ON THE BOOKS. VOTERS ULD REMOVE NEXT YEAR
Harvey Milk wrote Print Jimmy Carter askg him to speak out agast Proposn 6, which would have banned gay men and lbians om teachg or otherwise beg employed by California school districts. The iative sponsored by state senator John Briggs was opposed by a number of leadg policians, cludg former Governor Ronald Reagan, and former Print Gerald Ford. The iative was ultimately feated at the polls November 1978. Jimmy Carter Printial Library and Mm. * gay proposition 6 *
John Briggs, a nservative California lawmaker om Allegre's native Orange County, troduced a ballot iative 1977 to be put to a referendum the upg state electn that would bar gay men and lbian women om workg California's public schools. The proposn, did, however, brg together a dited group of gay activists and advot who waged a hard-fought opposn mpaign agast the iative, which was formally known as California Proposn path to succs was not an easy one.
COLUMN: HOW 2.8 LN CALIFORNIA VOTERS NEARLY BANNED GAY TEACHERS OM PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The fense of gay teachers is an important part of Amerin Catholic history. * gay proposition 6 *
And the bigoted aim at the heart of the iative would ntue to rear s ugly head time and time aga the succeedg years — most recently wh the troductn of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" legislatn that sparked natnal outcry earlier this former tors and activists who were volved the effort to feat California Prop 6 spoke to Insir about the "fight of our liv, " and the worrisome parallels they see arisg more than 40 years later. At 13, he remembers beg rnered the school stairwell by several boys on his basketball team who acced him of beg gay, mockg and chantg at him until he proceed to was the sort of experience that is achgly faiar to those who grew up queer: unique the specific nature of s celty, but intil tent. Inspired by emergg anti-gay activist Ana Bryant's overwhelmg succs repealg a Florida ordance that would have prevented discrimatn based on sexual orientatn, Briggs sponsored his own siarly-md iative, seemgly hopg might be his proposn would have allowed school boards California to fire any public school teacher, ai, admistrator, or unselor if was disvered that they had engaged "public homosexual activy" or "public homosexual nduct, " fed as homosexual behavr that was "not discreet" or "practiced private.
Soon after Briggs' announcement, the group was ready wh pamphlets, speakg engagements, and prs releas that refuted popular li about gay people the won support om lol church and policians, filed lawsus on the matter, and worked closely wh the teacher's unn the hop of buildg a mass movement that uld stop Briggs. "Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office the state, and Sally Gearhart, the first out lbian to obta a tenure-track faculty posn at a state universy, served as the public fac the fight agast Prop 6, publicly batg Briggs on his iative.
Activists and tors say the bill, which is officially lled the Parental Rights Edutn Act, plays on tired, homophobic rhetoric, and echo the Briggs Iniative's herently-flawed this that LGBT topics are not appropriate for California Prop 6 and the Parental Rights Edutn Act were amed as protective measur for children the public school system by policians who ed basels accatns of possible "groomg" by queer tors to ce parents' fears.
HARVEY MILK’S GAY FREEDOM DAY SPEECH: ANNOTATED
Five months before his assassatn 1978, Harvey Milk lled on the print of the Uned Stat to fend the rights of gay and lbian Amerins. * gay proposition 6 *
It's really easy to accs people's fears about gay people gog after their California Prop 6, which was a voter iative cid upon by the mass, Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law was a lawmaker-sponsored bill that was parceled and passed by policians at every pot. "Fightg opprsn is an ongog battle, the former tors saidMore than 40 years later, there rema few gay teachers who n offer their firsthand acunts of featg the Briggs Iniative, Ammiano said: "Almost everyone is ad. The se ma s way to the US Supreme Court, which dismissed an appeal 2013 over same-sex marriage on jurisdictnal grounds, lg private parti did not have standg to fend California’s voter-approved ballot measure barrg gay and lbian upl om state-sanctned wedlock.
June 25 marks the fortieth anniversary of gay rights activist and San Francis Supervisor Harvey Milk’s Gay Freedom Day speech, sometim lled the “Hope” speech, which he lled on Print Jimmy Carter to speak out agast Proposn 6, an anti-gay measure on the California state electn ballot. [2] However, Carter spoke out support of gay rights at the news nference he held jt before the fund raiser, sayg he would sign New York Congrswoman Bella Abzug’s Equaly Act amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act if reached his Printial sk. Prs Release, May 23, 1976; Gay Rights (NAID 563833); Contaer 34, Sam Bleicher’s Subject Fil; Issu Office, Rerds of the 1976 Campaign Commtee to Elect Jimmy Carter, 1976-1976; Jimmy Carter Printial Library, Atlanta, GA.
Milk to Costanza, June 28, 1978; Gay Rights–Harvey Milk Speech and Letter (NAID 152903); Contaer 4, Margaret Costanza’s Subject Fil; Office of Public Liaison; Rerds of Office of Assistant for Public Liaison, 1977-1981; Jimmy Carter Printial Library, Atlanta, GA. Costanza to Milk, July 30, 1978; Gay Rights–Harvey Milk Speech and Letter (NAID 152903); Contaer 4, Margaret Costanza’s Subject Fil; Office of Public Liaison; Rerds of Office of Assistant for Public Liaison, 1977-1981; Jimmy Carter Printial Library, Atlanta, GA.
AN EXCERPT OM A 1978 BATE ABOUT CALIFORNIA PROPOSN 6, AN EFFORT TO BAN GAY MEN AND WOMEN OM WORKG CALIFORNIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
6; Gay Rights–Harvey Milk Speech and Letter (NAID 152903); Contaer 4, Margaret Costanza’s Subject Fil; Office of Public Liaison; Rerds of Office of Assistant for Public Liaison, 1977-1981; Jimmy Carter Printial Library, Atlanta, GA.
Vcent, anal sex is punishable by up to 10 years prison, while “gross cency” wh another person of the same sex is punishable by up to five years, acrdg to lonial-era laws that are mon the socially nservative Caribbean rarely voked, the rights group and a lol activist said the laws help legimize hostily and abe agast gay people. Human Rights Watch terviewed more than 20 members of the island’s LGBTQ muny who shared their stori but were not intified to protect them, notg that lol police are often openly discrimatory toward gay people who seek help.
Several reported that their fai are homophobic and physilly and verbally abed them, g them to bee homels and promptg some to nsir also stggle to fd jobs amid a high unemployment rate and said they face discrimatn, cludg a 19-year-old gay man who said he has rorted to beggg: “Sometim I am so hungry.
WHEN REAGAN SAID GAY
David Steward, who was the only openly-gay member of the Human Rights Commissn, was able to gather support (albe lewarm) om the missn to ask the Board of Supervisors to pass the ordance; At the same time, Jim McEntee, Director of Santa Clara County Office of Human Relatns, was able to brg the ordance directly to the Board of Supervisors. Dpe San Francis’s sizeable gay polil muny, there was ltle to no support given, which was somethg mpaign manager Johnie Staggs attributed to “a kd of arrogance bee San Francis is regnized, jtifiably or not, as the gay Mec. In her prev posn as a San Jose Cy Councilmember, nservative church members turned out force to sist that the Council rcd a vote they had taken March 1978, which provid regnn for a planned Gay Pri Week later that year.