The Battle 30 Years Ago - 1978

[Rick336]

Thirty years ago, April 1978, a battle was raging in St. Paul Minnesota. Just six months earlier singer Anita Bryant had successfully forced a repeal of a gay rights ordinance in Dade County Florida that protected gay people from job and housing discrimination. Energized by her success she promised to take her campaign on the road and help other US cities across the country remove laws protecting gays from discrimination.

In St. Paul Minnesota, a prominent Baptist minister contacted Anita Bryant and asked for her help in organizing a movement to repeal his city’s gay rights ordinance. Within weeks the conservative anti-gay Citizens Alert for Morality was formed and a petition had gained enough signatures to put the gay rights ordinance to a vote in St. Paul.

I was living in neighboring Minneapolis in the 70s and was openly gay. Minneapolis also had a gay rights ordinance and the city was on Anita Bryant's hit list of target cities. In early 1978 I became involved in St. Paul Citizens for Human Rights, a new lesbian and gay organization formed to fight the attack on the gay rights ordinance in St. Paul. I volunteered and worked under Steve Endean, one of the group's organizers and a local gay rights activist. Steve was dedicated to civil rights protection for gay people in Minnesota.

The amount of misinformation put out by our opponents was incredible. A widely distributed pamphlet by Citizens Alert for Morality was designed to play on people’s fears. It gave a frightening scenario of an invasion of morally corrupt “perverts” and the recruitment of the "uncommitted" into "the homosexual lifestyle".

Here's the pamphlet from 30 years ago:


A MOST URGENT MESSAGE!!

Dear fellow Citizens,

There's a crisis developing in our city that poses a deteriorating
future for St. Paul......homosexuals spreading their influence into
every activity and community under the cover of "human rights" under
the city's Human Rights Ordinance. It's something that has become a
matter of grave concern to the citizens of St. Paul of every religious
faith, race, and political philosophy. Our Twin Cities have become
target cities for well-orchestrated drive for power and influence by
the homosexuals who are making alarming gains with each passing day!
They or their apologists have infiltrated the media, won over some of
the less wary clergy, and persuaded certain susceptible politicians
into their corner.

Their theme of "a human right to a job, housing, etc." has been most
effective in impressing the gullible who are unaware that these never
were or are not now problems for homosexuals any more than for
heterosexuals unless they disgust others by blatant demand for
acceptance of their immoral conduct.

The homosexuals, with supporters won and power secure, have now boldly
added a new theme to their arguments..."homosexuality is not immoral.
It's "natural." This is a theme that has alarmed us into action for
now we realize that their true aim is less to secure "rights" to jobs
etc. than to launch activities to win supporters to the homosexual
movement, if not converts.

The list of rights taken away from the citizens of our city by this
amendment is long. So is the list of opportunities it provides
homosexuals and other deviants to thrust themselves into our daily
lives and the lives of our children.

Our love and concern for all people, including homosexuals, does not
preclude our responsibility for the moral and spiritual welfare of our
children, therefore I urge you to join with me and the rest of your
fellow citizens in voting "YES" to REPEAL THE "AFFECTIONAL AND SEXUAL
PREFERENCE" AMENDMENT to the Human Right Ordinance on April 25th.

The homosexuals are mobilizing powerful forces to vote for the
tremendous advantage over the rest of the citizenry provided them by
this amendment. I urge you to join with me and the rest of your fellow
citizens in VOTING "YES" to REPEAL THE "AFFECTIONAL AND SEXUAL
PREFERENCE" AMENDMENT to the Human Rights Ordinance on April 25, an
amendment that has taken away so many of YOUR RIGHTS.


VOTE YES to protect our city from a possible future as the "Homosexual Capital of the Midwest"!

VOTE YES to protect our children’s moral and spiritual values!

VOTE YES to protect our homes and families from a morally corrupting influence!

VOTE YES to protect our children from perverted teachers as role models!

VOTE YES to protect our children from perverted daycare center workers!

VOTE YES to protect our children from perverted camp counselors!

VOTE YES to protect parents from being jailed for loving their children to fight to protect them.


WHAT HAVE THEY BEEN DOING IN THE TWIN CITIES?

They quickly and quietly got “gay rights” amendments added to the human rights
ordinances of both St. Paul and Minneapolis to provide an “open sesame” into all
aspects of community life.

They organized numerous clubs, many under beguiling names to attract the unwary…
“Target City Coalition”, “St. Paul Citizens for Human Rights”, “Dignity”; others with
bolder names like “Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights”, “Gay Survival Fund”, etc.
The list appears to be growing rapidly as do the dollars pouring into their coffers.

They’ve demanded and received our taxpayer dollars to support their immoral lifestyle;
$21,000 from Hennepin County for “Gay Community Services”, another $21,000 from
the same source for the “Lesbian Resources Center”!

They’ve opened up gay rap parlors saunas and night-clubs supported by extensive
advertising obviously aimed at the “uncommitted” as well as their own kind.

They’ve imported gay films for public showings. Again obviously welcoming the
“uncommitted”.

They’ve infiltrated state and city government offices and other activities, including the clergy
with actual homosexuals or sympathizers.

They’ve imported skilled professionals to argue persuasively for them
on the radio, TV, at public forums and before the students of our schools.

They’ve used violence and threats of violence, to frighten their opposition
into silence.

THESE ARE JUST THE TIP OF THE HOMOSEXUAL ICEBERG!

BECAUSE THEY CAN’T REPRODUCE THEY MUST SEDUCE!

VOTE “YES” TO REPEAL the “Affectional and Sexual Preference” Amendment
which allows perverts to spread their influence throughout the city.

VOTE YES APRIL 25


Citizens Alert for Morality
St. Paul, Minnesota
April 1978



Our efforts to save the ordinance from repeal failed by a three to one vote in St. Paul on April 25, 1978. Just a few weeks later gay rights ordinances were also repealed in Wichita, Kansas and Eugene, Oregon and the Briggs Initiative campaign was underway in California to deny jobs to California's openly gay teachers .

With the efforts of a well organized group and one of America's first openly gay elected officials, San Francisco's City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the Briggs Initiative went down in defeat. Gay teachers in California remained protected. But just three weeks after celebrating the defeat of the initiative, Harvey Milk was shot and killed along with Mayor George Moscone by Supervisor Dan White who had been an opponent of gay rights in San Francisco.

Back in St. Paul, St. Paul Citizens for Human Rights' organizer Steve Endean, decided it was time to fight for gay rights on a national level. Endean moved to Washington D.C. and started the Gay Rights National Lobby and eventually founded the Human Rights Campaign which has become America's largest and most successful LGBT organization.

In 1993 Minnesota finally added sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's nondiscrimination laws. In 2003 an attempt by an anti-gay group to repeal the law failed. Minnesota is now one of a growing number of states that provides protection against discrimination for its LGBT citizens.



Rick

[Zerbie]

Oh what an awful letter. :mad:

What's sad is that we still hear so much of the same weird, bizarre claims now in 2008. But I am so thankful for the success we've had in creating a much more open, much safer world since then.

Thank you, Rick, for the courage and commitment you show, but especially for your courage and commitment in being involved in this struggle 30 years ago. What immense bravery! Thank you.
:award:
:love:

[Vanessa White]

Yeah, that is totally disturbing that people would perpetuate fear in that hate-mongering kind of way, kind of like, well, now?!?! Not as bad, that is for sure; thanks for your efforts in those trying times, Rick. It really was a battle; I was in my teens, not yet aware of what was in store for me. And, I forget so often about Anita Bryant, and the damaging words that she spoke, all supposedly in the name of God.

Not my God......:pray::love:

[keltic63]

Yeah, that is totally disturbing that people would perpetuate fear in that hate-mongering kind of way, kind of like, well, now?!?! Not as bad, that is for sure; thanks for your efforts in those trying times, Rick. It really was a battle; I was in my teens, not yet aware of what was in store for me. And, I forget so often about Anita Bryant, and the damaging words that she spoke, all supposedly in the name of God.

Not my God......:pray::love:

I remember when she started speaking out, and I remember the pie in her face. Funny thing is, I don't ever recall hearing anything about gay people before she started talking about it.

You know, I also remember reading in Newsweek, when I was a teenager, about the things gay men do in sexual encounters, and I felt some kind of relief because I had no desire to do most of the things that were listed. I'm guessing that had they listed some of the most extreme sex acts that heterosexuals participate in, I'd have figured I wasn't straight either :lol:

[BlueGirl]

I remember well when Anita Bryant was on her rampage and gay rights being repealed in all those places. I have a couple of gay scrapbooks with a lot of clippings from that time. I also have a 45 rpm record by lesbian singer Cassie Culver titled, "What We Gonna Do About Anita".
Thankfully, things have improved a lot for gays in some places but they sure haven't changed much in this ignorant, Bible belt, yahoo state. The capital city of WV (Charleston) recently added protection for gays but that's the only progressive thing I know of that has happend for us in WV except for repeal of the sodomy law a good many years ago.

By the way, have any of you who are out, ever experienced any of your co-workers being afraid to work with you or to be in the rest room with you?
My mate (at the time) and I experienced that when we started going together and came out. Talk about ignorant and homophobic!! :eek: We were probably the first gay people they'd ever seen that they were aware of. That was in 1972. I doubt if the ideas of people here have changed much since then.

BlueGirl

[BlueGirl]

Thanks, Rick, for all of your caring and effort to get equal rights for us.

Your post really got me to thinking about that time back then and feeling like reminiscing. It never takes much to get me started doing that.

BlueGirl

[Daniel]

Rick- thank you for reminding us of where we've come from and where we are going regarding gay rights. Young poeple in their 20's and 30's, often, don't know this history- and what isn't known and understood makes it all to easy for the same kind of thing to a happen again- that is- if the flame of memory is not kept burning- and passed along.

[Rick336]

Zerbie and BlueGirl,

Thanks for your kind words. :-)

It seems funny now, but there was actually a period in the United States during my lifetime when there was no opposition to gay rights. None.

Ever since the Stonewall riots in 1969, gay rights ordinances had been passed in a dozen cities across the country with no resistance. The civil rights movement of the 1960s had generated an attitude of equal rights for all people and a "live and let live" attitude that carried over into the early 1970s.

Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" campaign that began in Florida in 1977 was the very beginning of the backlash in America against equal rights for LGBT people that would spread to Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon, California and beyond.

I’ll never forget that day in the spring of 1977 when my roommate Steve first told me about Anita's anti-gay campaign in Florida. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that anyone would object to equal rights for gay people. After all, it was the 70s, the decade of “do your own thing” and “if it feels good, do it.” And I knew that Anita’s campaign of hate and intolerance would never be accepted.

But I was wrong. Anita Bryant claimed that gay people were a danger to America‘s children and said “The recruitment of our children is absolutely necessary for the survival and growth of homosexuality,” To me this was so absurd that I knew any reasonable, intelligent person would think she was nuts.

But in June of 1977 when the vote in Dade County, Florida was overwhelmingly in favor of the repeal of gay rights, gay people across the country were stunned. We had no idea that we were at the beginning of a very long battle.

Immediately Anita Bryant promised to bring her campaign to St. Paul. But when she arrived in St. Paul in the summer of 1977, we were waiting for her. Nearly a thousand gays and lesbians greeted her waving signs and singing protest songs. Anita began to claim to the news media that gay people wanted to attack her and that her fight to “save the children” was putting her life in danger.

By the winter of 1978 she and her followers had advised Temple Baptist church in St. Paul to push for the repeal of the city’s gay rights law. As a volunteer for St. Paul Citizens for Human Rights I campaigned door to door in the St. Paul neighborhoods encouraging people to vote against the repeal. But even though most people were civil towards me, a few were hostile.

For a couple of afternoons in April 1978, I volunteered to wear a sandwich board and stand on a busy street corner in downtown St. Paul. A sandwich board is made of two 2’X3’ posters connected by straps made to be worn over the shoulders so that the signs can be read front and back. There I stood on a busy downtown street corner in St. Paul with two huge signs covering all but my face and feet that said, “VOTE NO ON APRIL 25th!” As I stood on the corner I passed out pamphlets. The signs I was wearing may as well have said, “LOOK AT ME! I’M A HOMOSEXUAL!”

On one of the days I wore the sandwich board, a catholic nun grabbed one of the pamphlets as she walked past. She immediately wadded it up and threw it back at me and shouted, “I don’t vote for perverts!”

On April 19th, 1978, just six days before the vote, a huge crowd of gays and lesbians from the Twin Cities held a huge rally on the steps of the state capitol building in St. Paul. The St. Paul Dispatch put the number at 2,000. With signs waving and people chanting, “Hey, hey, Ho, ho, Anita Bryant has got to go!” the crowd marched from the capitol building through downtown St. Paul.

But near-by at the St. Paul Civic Center, a crowd of 8,000 attended the “God and Decency Rally” and cheered as Anita Bryant’s husband, Bob Green, condemned homosexuality and the “moral breakdown” of the nation.

The week before the vote the Citizens Alert for Morality ran full page ads in the St. Paul Dispatch saying that gay rights were "NOT human rights" and that it was vital to vote to stop the "homosexual influence."

The campaign of fear and lies had worked. The vote was 31,694 to 54,096 in favor of repeal. Soon after, gays rights laws also fell in Wichita, Kansas and Eugene, Oregon, and Anita Bryant got behind California Senator John Briggs and his fight to outlaw gay teachers in California.

But in California LGBT people were more organized and were able to get the support of Governor Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter. The anti-gay Briggs initiative was defeated in November 1978. And with the newly elected San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk in office things seemed to be turning around for gay Americans.

Then Harvey Milk was shot to death on November 27th. Gay Americans were realizing that the road to justice and equality was going to be a very long one. The “live and let live” days of the early 70s were over.

Now at age 56, looking back I think we’ve made a tremendous amount of progress since 1978. But to my amazement, the same old campaign of fear and misinformation keeps coming back again and again.

The speech given last month by Oklahoma Senator Sally Kerns claiming that homosexuals were “worse than terrorists" sounds no different than the absurd rhetoric from thirty years ago. It’s a reminder that ignorance and fear continues to remain as the favorite weapon against equality.

Rick


Attached are photos of the protest demonstration against Anita Bryant’s appearance in the Twin Cities on May 21, 1977. Anita Bryant referred to gay people as "fruits" so we claimed the day of her arrival as "National Fruit Day".

Most of the young people in these photos are now in their 50s and 60s.

[Steven E. Webster]

Zerbie and BlueGirl,

Thanks for your kind words. :-)

It seems funny now, but there was actually a period in the United States during my lifetime when there was no opposition to gay rights. None.

Ever since the Stonewall riots in 1969, gay rights ordinances had been passed in a dozen cities across the country with no resistance.

I'm not sure I agree with this entirely. I was 18 when the Stonewall riots occurred. The reason those riots occurred was because in New York City and a lot of other places it wasn't legal for gay people to gather in bars!

There was a great deal of repression. It was difficult to even talk about homosexuality. Ignorance was much worse than now.

There was a period in the early 70's when many cities started to pass ordinances expanding equal rights to lesbians and gays.

I think you are right that Anita Bryant was the beginning of a major backlash after LGBT people had started to make some progress

And we've been fighting the culture wars ever since.

But the period before Stonewall was one of repression that is hard for young people to imagine now a days.

I started as a freshman in the UW in Madison in 1969, I "came out" in 1971 and got involved with the local "Gay Liberation Front." It was then that I learned that in the mid-1960's there had been a purge of gay students and faculty at the UW only in the mid-1960's. What happened here in Madison then sounded a lot like stories you hear about Brigham Young University only a few years ago.

It's just been a really long struggle, the LGBT movement. If we consider that the modern movement U.S. movement began with Harry Hay back in the late 1940's, we've been at this struggle for 60 years. There are periods of progress, and then there are set backs. But I think, overall, the progress has been amazing.

Steven Webster

[Steven E. Webster]

Rick & Friends,

Looking again at you original post, I'd like to add a few more comments.

Progress has been uneven and spotty. For instance, the wave of anti-gay ballot measures that Anita Bryant started 30 years ago was stopped in a number of places when some folks were afraid it was unstoppable. You mentioned how the anti-gay Briggs initiative was stopped in California. (Then there was Milk's assassination--another setback.) Also at that time, we stopped an attempt to overturn an equal rights ordinance here in Madison. Then, only a few years later in 1982, Wisconsin became the very first state to establish equal rights for LGBT persons state-wide. Here we are, next door neighbors to you folks in Minnesota.

So, like I said, progress is uneven and we have our setbacks. But, overall, there has been progress.

Steven W.

[sailaway58]

My wife and I had been married one year when our church took a bus load of people to the Indianapolis State Capital to protest Gays. It really wasn't a protest of gay rights but of gays in general. We had no idea what we were in for. I remember hearing a speaker shouting, get the gays out of the schools and into the jails where they belong. Cindy and I looked at each other and both agreed we did not agree with that. Anita was to speak but could not because of death threats.
Some of the very logic, or lack of logic used then is still used today.
I am glad we can grow, change our stance and views.
I was 19 and had been married a year. (no, we did not have children yet)
You could not have convinced me then being gay was not a sin but I was equally opposed to all the hate speech I heard that day.
When I had my sons I hugged them lots so they wouldn't want it from another man. Now I know they didn't need to be straight but I'll never regret the hugs.

[Rick336]

Also at that time, we stopped an attempt to overturn an equal rights ordinance here in Madison. Then, only a few years later in 1982, Wisconsin became the very first state to establish equal rights for LGBT persons state-wide.

Steven,

I remember the day in 1982 when Wisconsin passed that law. It was great news. I was hoping it was the beginning of a national trend. And it was.

Now there are twenty states and the District of Columbia, and over 140 cities and counties that have enacted such bans against discrimination. The states banning sexual orientation discrimination in private sector employment are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Fourteen of those states also have bans that include gender identity.

In 1977, Harvey Milk was one of only a few openly gay elected officials in America. Today there are nearly 400.

Rick

[Rick336]

I said above that before Anita Bryant's campaign to repeal gay rights laws in the spring of 1977, that it seemed that no one resisted gay equality in America. But I think that to me and to millions of other gays and lesbians in the country that it was just never an issue. We didn't feel the need to become active because there was nothing going on.

After Stonewall in 1969 and before 1977, 40 cities in the United States passed gay rights ordinances with little opposition. Gay rights was not making news and nobody seemed upset.

But Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign in Dade County, Florida in 1977 made national news and was the cover story for Newsweek Magazine. Anita became joke material for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show and "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live.

In June 1977 there were huge protest demonstrations all over the country against Anita Bryant. In New York City and San Francisco thousands took to the street shouting "Out of the closets and into the streets!" and "We are everywhere!"

For many it was our first time being active in the movement. When we got news in May 1977 that Anita Bryant was coming to the Twin Cities, the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights organized a huge protest demonstration. It was the first time I had ever been involved in anything like that. We were fighting for our basic human rights and we've been fighting ever since.

The news article below is from July 4th 1977:


LOS ANGELES (AP) - If Anita Bryant didn't exist, the gay civil rights movement might have chosen to invent her, says David Goodstein, publisher of The Advocate, the nation's largest gay newspaper. "We didn't really have a viable mass movement before," Mr. Goodstein said in an interview. "Now, thanks to Mrs. Bryant, we do. We spokespeople in the movement have known for a long time that these bigots out there want to cancel our vote but it takes one to come along to prove it."

Miss Bryant, a 37-year-old singer who promotes Florida orange juice has denied any personal dislike for homosexuals but nonetheless led a successful campaign to repeal a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Fla. Her slogan, "Save Our Children," infuriates Mr. Goodstein and other gay spokesmen who point out that police statistics show the majority of child molesting cases involve heterosexual, not homosexual, attacks....

Rightly or not, gay leaders also blame Miss Bryant for the stabbing death last week of a San Francisco homosexual killed by young men who allegedly yelled "faggot" and "Anita is right" as they attacked. "As far as I'm concerned, she's a woman with blood on her hands," said Harvey Milk, a gay political leader. "We have been expecting something like this. I've said for some time she should be indicted inciting violence. Now it's a little bit heavier."

Mr. Goodstein says, however, that Miss Bryant's Florida victory has brought new supporters into the gay rights movement. He points to well-attended Gay Pride marches staged in major cities a week ago as proof that formerly closeted homosexuals have decided to come out and take a stand. "The incredible thing about the post-Anita thing is to look at who makes up the crowd of demonstrator," he said. "You see a kind of gay person you never saw before. They know that their life is at stake. This is a survival issue with us."

Mr. Goodstein is unquestionably one of the country's most influential gay spokesmen. A lawyer and former Wall Street portfolio manager, he has increased The Advocate's circulation tenfold since taking control a little more than two years ago. Today, The bimonthly Advocate sells more than 300,000 copies nationwide and Mr. Goodstein, a bearded, affable millionaire, dined recently with President Carter at the White House.

Mr. Goodstein believes Miss Bryant is a front for conservative elements who seek to repress gays and thinks that struggle between the two groups will expand and intensify. He sees a bill to deny employment to homosexual teachers sponsored by state Sen. John Briggs, R-Fullerton, as an example of antigay sentiment and predicts a strong counterattack from the gay movement. "This is a survival thing with us, not some esoteric issue." he says. "We are defending our homes, we are defending our lives. The movement is now in a new phase and when people fight for survival, they fight hard, mean and tough."

[matthewspeed]

Rick,

We need to remember our struggle from the early days. Thank you for posting this thread. We have won many battles, but the war is not over! I often wonder what Anita Bryant is doing these days. Has she recently made any comments concerning gay issues? She seemed to disappear from the planet after that time in history.

Any news about he? Not that I am an "Anita Bryant fan." but I am surprised that she hasn't joined forces with Pat Roberson or James Dobson. They all deserve each other!

[antiochian]

Rick,

We need to remember our struggle from the early days. Thank you for posting this thread. We have won many battles, but the war is not over! I often wonder what Anita Bryant is doing these days. Has she recently made any comments concerning gay issues? She seemed to disappear from the planet after that time in history.

Any news about he? Not that I am an "Anita Bryant fan." but I am surprised that she hasn't joined forces with Pat Roberson or James Dobson. They all deserve each other!

I googled Bryant and she now has her own ministry. Great. In her bio it states that the church disowned her after she got divorced--hmmm, got a taste of her own medicine.

[sailaway58]

In many ways Anita was a victim. She believed what her church told her. She had the courage to stand on what her church said. How many x-gay stories do we need to read to realize that if it is so tough for a gay person to accept homosexuality, we should not be surprised that many heterosexuals don't accept it.
Anita was very well schooled on all the stereotypes, all the fear, all the scripture that seemed to condemn homosexuality. She was used by the church and destroyed because she believed.
I am sure she believed that people could could be set free from this "sin" if they surrendered to Christ.
We live in a world that loves to hate. We hate anyone that is different.
Mark Twain wrote a story about a young man that kills either a Chinamen or an Irishmen. Whichever it was I don't remember but the kid grew up hearing how bad the minority was, the government had passed laws that were prejudiced against the minority. He learned that all of his economic woes were the fault of this group. When he killed the person he expected to be considered a hero. When the community and government turned against him he was in shock. He just killed one of those he was taught to hate.
Twain suggested that the boy had no choice in the matter and the indictment should be against the community. (a horrible paraphrase)

[Zerbie]

Yes, sad but insightful, Tim Sailor.

I am unacquainted with the Twain story: but that was the bent I was on when that little 14 year old shot his classmate so recently. He may very well have thought he was doing something good. May have thought his community would regard him as a hero also.

What an awful idea.

Teaching this sort of thinking is so abominable it's beyond words.

[Rick336]

In April 1978 when St. Paul voters rescinded the law protecting gays from discrimination by a 2-to-1 margin, this sent a message throughout the Twin Cities that LGBT people were not deserving of respect and equal treatment and that homosexuality was a problem to be solved.

The "Citizens Alert for Morality" ran full page ads in the newspapers denouncing the spread of "homosexual influence".

Following the St. Paul vote, several gay men in the Twin Cities were attacked and killed. On June 5th, 1979 Terry Knudsen, a gay man from Minneapolis, was walking through Loring Park and was attacked and killed by three men.

Soon after that, another gay man was stabbed to death in the same area. And on June 15, 1979 a third gay man, Les Benscoter, was found dead in his St. Paul apartment with the words, "fags will die" written in toothpaste on his furniture.

In 1976 there were 52 assaults reported to the No More Assaults Group of the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights for that year. In 1980 the number had risen to 89.

The message that homosexuality needs to be stomped out is still with us in 2008. Focus on the Family is careful not to sound too cruel or hateful when talking about gay people. But their message is still that homosexuality is a disorder that needs to be "cured" and that LGBT people are enemies of America.

Thirty years ago however the rhetoric was even worse. Back then gay people were typically referred to as "perverts" in the letters to the editor section of local newspapers in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Here's an example of a letter to the Editor of a St. Paul newspaper a few days before the repeal of gay rights laws there in April, 1978:

The “gays” have stated that their amendment to St. Paul’s Human Rights Ordinance, which gives them a foot and a leg in the door of every conceivable activity in our city, should not be repealed because with it there have been no problems, no threat to peace. No threat to them but a threat to everybody else. And no threat to peace because the power turned over to the homosexuals and other perverts by their amendment is a cocked pistol at the temple of every moral and law abiding citizen of St. Paul.

The “Gay Rights” amendment is a vicious fraud under the innocent cloak of “human rights” to force parents to accept perverts as schoolteachers, scoutmasters, and Big Brothers for their children. It’s a power play, invented by the homosexuals and supported by their political puppets to give homosexuals the edge in the battle for the minds of the young.


And in a Minneapolis newspaper during that same period the Baptist minister who was leading the crusade against gays in St. Paul said that homosexuality was "a murderous, horrendous, twisted, ugly thing," and that, "The self-righteous pride of these perverts is sickening."

When referring to a gay leader in the Twin Cities who was organizing a rally against the repeal of the gay rights ordinance, he said, "Bless that little pervert's heart. He's going to get us more votes than anybody else."

Rick

[Rick336]

Here are some excerpts from an advertisement printed in the Miami Herald on March 20, 1977.

In the ad, Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" campaign urges the citizens of Dade County, Florida to vote against the recently passed gay rights ordinance.

Here's what it said:


"Homosexuality is nothing new. Cultures throughout history, moreover, have dealt with homosexuals almost universally with disdain, abhorrence, disgust - even death.

While times certainly have changed, and American society largely has developed an attitude of tolerance, that tolerance toward homosexuality is based on the understanding that homosexuals will keep their deviate activity to themselves, will not flaunt their lifestyles, will not be allowed to preach their sexual standards to, or otherwise influence, impressionable young people.

That attitude of tolerance, most unfortunately, recently was destroyed in this community by the Metropolitan Dade County Commission, which voted in effect to legitimize homosexuals' presence in our society - by forcing our private and religious schools to accept them as teachers, by forcing property owners and employers to open their doors to homosexuals no matter how blatant their perverted lives may be.

Homosexual acts are illegal under Florida law and the laws of most states. The Metro Commission, nevertheless, chose to ignore the spirit of our laws and cave in to a small, vocal group of "gays".

Despite the obvious fact that homosexual acts are illegal - and in the eyes of most people immoral - some non-homosexual supporters of the homosexuals' point of view contended that the issue is one of "civil rights."

Unless repealed the ordinance will allow homosexuals, as one leader has promised, to provide "role models" for the impressionable - that is, the right to tell all society, especially our youth, that homosexuality isn't wrong, just different... and of course "gay".

This recruitment of our children is absolutely necessary for the survival and growth of homosexuality - for since homosexuals cannot reproduce, they must freshen their ranks. And who qualifies as a likely recruit: a 35-year-old father or mother of two... or a teenage boy or girl who is surging with sexual awareness?

The breadth and depth of Save Our Children Inc., became apparent several days ago when the organization presented more than 60,000 citizen's names on petitions to the Metro Commission - believed to be the most signatures ever collected in Metro history in such a short time (three weeks), and 50,000 signatures more than were needed to put the ordinance on the ballot for repeal. The Commission subsequently put the issue of repeal on the ballot for a special county-wide election to be conducted Tuesday, June 7th.

What is needed now is for you to speak out.

Save Our Children Inc., urges you and your family and friends to write Dade County newspaper editors and other members of local news media (radio and TV) with your opinions on the subject on the homosexual recruitment ordinance.

Likewise you are urged to contact your friends and family to urge them to vote for repeal of the ordinance June 7.

It is imperative that the Metro ordinance be repealed June 7. The entire nation...The Normal Majority...will be watching the results of this campaign and the election. Yet, even if the ordinance is repealed, the battle of parents to protect their children from homosexuality has not ended, for, at this moment, in the Congress of the United States, 25 misguided congressmen are pushing a bill (H.R. 2998) which would impose on the entire nation the same dangers found in the Metro law."



The vote on June 7, 1977 was overwhelmingly in favor of rescinding the ordinance and denying equal rights to gay people. It started the national movement against LGBT equality that is still with us today.

In 2008, many on the far right are still praising Anita Bryant as a hero. In a recent gathering of opponents of LGBT rights, Anita received a 10 minute standing ovation.

By seeing Anita Bryant as an American hero they apparently also believe as she did 31 years ago that LGBT people are not deserving of basic human rights and that homosexuality should be outlawed.

And they apparently believe the statement from the Save Our Children ad in 1977 that, "The recruitment of our children is absolutely necessary for the survival and growth of homosexuality - for since homosexuals cannot reproduce, they must freshen their ranks."

The absurdity from such ignorance boggles the mind.


Rick

[Sherrie Z]

Thanks for the info, Rick! I appreciate your efforts and perspective.

I can thank Anita Bryant for being one of the influences that caused my involvement in support of gay rights in the late 70's.

And I can thank the notice to alumni from my alma mater alerting us about the upcoming Soulforce visit last year for my involvement with Soulforce now.

Hee Hee Hee : )

[drewcaine]

This is sad. I mean, who's interested in molesting kids, anyway?o_O
drewcaine

[Rick336]

I remember when she started speaking out, and I remember the pie in her face. Funny thing is, I don't ever recall hearing anything about gay people before she started talking about it.

The pie throwing incident happened on October 14, 1977.

Back in the mid Seventies, pie throwing was a favorite tactic of a small group of radical gay rights activists from Minneapolis. I think they were members of the gay rights organization Target City Coalition. The organization's named came from the statement by Anita Bryant that Minneapolis was one of her target cities for repealing gay rights ordinances across the country.

It all began in July 1977 when the small group of radicals decided to throw a banana cream pie in the face of a member of the Minneapolis City Council. The City Council member had proposed changes to the Minneapolis gay rights ordinance to exempt private charitable organizations from the law.

The men brought the pie to a meeting between the City Council and members of the gay and lesbian community who had met to discuss the proposal. When a member of the Lesbian Feminist Organization Committee tried to stop the pie throwing, she was hit with the pie instead. Then there was a minor scuffle and the pie thrower was slugged in the face. The incident made headlines in the Minneapolis Tribune to the embarrassment of many in the gay community.

On another day, Minnesota Archbishop John Roach of St. Paul was hit in the face with a pie for his public comments condemning homosexuality.

Three months later in October, Anita Bryant and her husband Bob Green set up a meeting with news reporters in Des Moines, Iowa to discuss their national campaign against gay rights. Four gay activists from Minneapolis got word of the meeting. On October 14th they drove several hours south to Des Moines with two banana cream pies.

Thom Higgins was one of the men. He was admitted into the meeting with Anita and her husband by posing as a news reporter. He concealed the pie in a paper bag. In the middle of the interview Higgins took the pie out of the bag and threw it into Anita's face in front or television cameras.

At first Anita Bryant was speechless. Then she said, "Well, at least it was a fruit pie." Then she and her husband Bob began to pray for the pie throwers.

A few minutes later, news reporters were interviewing Thom Higgins and the other three men in the parking lot outside. Anita's husband went outside and found the group. He grabbed the second pie from the hands of one of the men and threw it in his face.

The incident made national news.

I was involved in the gay rights movement in the Twin Cities during this time. Like many others, I didn't agree with the pie throwing tactic because I thought it was counterproductive to what we were trying to accomplish. However, I did think the image of Anita's face covered in banana cream pie was hilarious.

One afternoon in 1978 in Minneapolis on the way home from work, I sat down beside Thom Higgins on a city bus. I had just seen a rerun of Saturday Night Live a few nights earlier where they showed the pie throwing incident on "Weekend Update" with Jane Curtin and Bill Murray. Thom said that NBC had paid to fly him to New York City and gave him a front row seat in the audience when the show aired live in October, 1977.

He told me that even though many in the gay community denounced pie throwing as a retaliation against homophobia, he never regretted throwing the pie in Anita Bryant's face.

I moved back home to North Carolina four years later in 1982. A couple of years ago I learned that Thom had passed away in 1994.

Rick



* The 1977-1978 season of Saturday Night Live will be released on DVD May 15, 2008.

[matthewspeed]

Rick,

The last time you posted a thread concerning Anita Bryant, I asked if anyone knew what she was up to lately. I have not heard her in the media concerning anti-gay tactics. You said she received a standing ovation at a rally of far right activists. Is she still vocal in the anti- gay movement? Like I said before, I am surprised that she has not joined forces with James Dobson.

It is so sad that people still believe myths and lies concerning LGBT people. It's like a cult following. The brainwashing is evident among far right conservative circles. I believe that many in the conservative circle would be willing to embrace gay people. But unfortunately, they have been brainwashed and they are not being exposed to the truth. It's like the days of Hitler. A lot of good meaning people were swept away with Hitlers lies and brainwashing techniques. It is a sad and damaging effect on society. It's the disease of "Hate."

[Rick336]

The last time you posted a thread concerning Anita Bryant, I asked if anyone knew what she was up to lately. I have not heard her in the media concerning anti-gay tactics. You said she received a standing ovation at a rally of far right activists. Is she still vocal in the anti- gay movement?

Matthew,

In an earlier post antiochian had googled Anita Bryant and found that she now has her own ministry.

I read a few years ago that she and her current husband opened up an entertainment nightclub in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee but that it failed from lack of business.

Back in the 80s I heard that she was interviewed by a women's magazine and in the interview she apologized for her crusade against gay people and that her new attitude was "live and let live." I have not read the article.

However, if she indeed apologized, apparently she changed her mind again because an article on the WorldNetDaily website from March, 2008 said that she attended a meeting of religious conservatives and received a ten minute standing ovation.

Here's the article: http://wnd.com/index.php/index.php?pageId=58600


Rick

[matthewspeed]

Thanks Rick.

I just read the article. Jan Folger is the women who we need to watch out for. She is a hateful individual. I get chills down my spine reading her words. She puts such fear in peoples minds: The fear of "homophobia." According to Jan, we, as LGBT people, are set to ruin civilization and destroy the American family. That is just the opposite. We are pro family. We simply want to be a part of the family of America and those of us with strong faith, a part of the religious family. The last thing I want to do is tear down churches and stop free speech. I simply want my rights along with the rest of society. As far as I am concerned, I am not asking for much!

Just my thoughts. :)

[Rick336]

I get chills down my spine reading her words. She puts such fear in peoples minds: The fear of "homophobia." According to Jan, we, as LGBT people, are set to ruin civilization and destroy the American family.



In the WorldNetDaily article, Jan Folger describes Anita Bryant as a hero and a victim who stood alone in her fight against homosexual rights. But Anita did not stand alone. Jerry Falwell stood with her.

A month before the June 7, 1977 vote in Dade County Florida to repeal the gays rights ordinance, a rally of 9,500 supporters of Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children Campaign" was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center. According to Newsweek Magazine, during a speech at the rally, Jerry Falwell said, “So-called gay folks [would] just as soon kill you as look at you.” and said, “Homosexuality is a sin so rotten, so low, so dirty, even cats and dogs don’t do it.”

And Anita Bryant herself referred to gays as “human garbage.”

Such rhetoric rivals that of the racist hate speech of the Ku Klux Klan during the civil rights movement of the Sixties. Yet, even some Christian conservatives today, like Jan Folger at WorldNetDaily, see Anita Bryant and Jerry Falwell as American heroes.

When people who compare a minority group to human garbage or lower than animals are hailed by some as heroes, it makes one wonder who else they see as heroes.

Rick

[matthewspeed]

Rick,

More chills down my spine!! The words of Anita, Jan, and Jerry all literally make me sick to my stomach. Such evil. God help us and intervene!

[Rick336]

Three years stand out as the most emotional and violent years of LGBT history; 1977, 1978, and 1979. Two things happened in 1977 that began an explosion of gay activism that spread across the nation and brought together thousands for the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979.

In 1977 San Francisco citizen Harvey Milk was elected to the city's Board of Supervisors as the first openly gay city official in America. And across the country in Dade County, Florida, Anita Bryant began her campaign called "Save Our Children" to rescind Miami's new gay rights ordinance. James Sears, author of Rebels, Rubyfruit and Rhinestones put it this way; "If Stonewall was the match that started the modern gay liberation movement, then Anita Bryant was really the wildfire that spread across the entire country."

Bryant's campaign spread to St. Paul, Minnesota, Wichita, Kansas, Eugene, Oregon and influenced Senator John Briggs to place on the California ballot an initiative to outlaw homosexual school teachers. During this turbulent time disco music was our rallying cry. From New York to San Francisco, the discos were packed with young gay men and women moving their bodies to the sounds of freedom and free love.

In San Francisco Harvey Milk was planning a national march on Washington for 1979. But in November 1978, Milk was shot to death and never saw his dream realized.

The following is a selection of quotes I found through internet searches, newspaper articles, pamphlets, fliers, periodicals, and other material from that period that demonstrate the emotional tone between January 1977 and October 1979:





"Homosexuality is rapidly becoming one of America's most serious social problems. Homosexuals are marching in the nation's biggest protest demonstrations since the days of the antiwar movement. Therefore, it is our desire to warn Christians of the dangers of homosexuality and to warn homosexuals of the terrible consequences of continuing in their sin."

- From the Article The Homosexual Revolution - End the Abomination January 1977



"There's Nothing Like the Love Between a Woman and a Man."

- Song recorded and released by Anita Bryant in 1977



New York, New York,
you got me dancing, dancing
New York, New York,
you got me dancing, dancing

- Lyrics to Andrea True Connection’s top hit in gay discos 1977



“If gays are granted rights, next we'll have to give rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep with St. Bernards and to nailbiters.”

- Anita Bryant 1977



“Our top story tonight: A report from Florida states that Anita Bryant plans to undergo a sex change operation this spring. The exact date will not be set until the popular TV personality decides which sex to change to. More on this story as it develops.”

- Weekend Update with Jane Curtin on Saturday Night Live, February 22, 1977



“So-called gay folks [would] just as soon kill you as look at you.”

- Jerry Falwell to 9,500 supporters at a rally organized by Anita Bryant in Miami, May 1977



“Bitter Fruit!”

- Anita Bryant describing the 750 protestors in Minneapolis when she arrived to entertain at the opening of a Fruit Company Warehouse on May 21, 1977




"Kill A Queer For Christ"

- Bumper sticker during the campaign to repeal gays rights in Florida 1977



"Anita Bryant and her hate brigade are running amuck. Even at its worst , Joe McCarthy did not sink to the lows of our enemies in Florida…."

- Opening Space Editorial in June 1, 1977 issue of the Advocate



"Whatever happens in Miami this week, the fight for—and against—gay
rights is just beginning."

- Time Magazine June 13, 1977


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4345647648_4688faa28d.jpg
Protest in Minneapolis on May 21, 1977 against
the appearance of Anita Bryant scheduled to preform
at the opening of a fruit company.



“All the world and all America will hear what we have said. With God’s help we will prevail in our fight to repeal similar laws throughout the nation which attempt to legitimize a lifestyle that is perverse and dangerous.”

- Anita Bryant, after the voters repealed Dade County Florida’s gay rights ordinance by a 2-to-1 margin June 7, 1977




Anita Dear….shove it!

- Printed on a t-shirt in the New York City Gay Pride parade June 1977




“San Francisco is almost completely gone. There may be no saving it.”

-Anita Bryant’s husband Bob Green describing the effect of homosexual influence in San Francisco politics, Newsweek Magazine 1977



“Love to love you baby.”

- Donna Summer disco hit 1977



"Boycott Florida Citrus"

- Campaign Button by the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights 1977



"There were so many people, the police ordered the marchers off the sidewalks and onto the two streets….."

- D.L. Groover of Houston, Texas describing the 6,000 protestors who marched through downtown Houston when Anita Bryant arrived there to entertained at the Texas Bar Association convention June 16, 1977




"At least it was a fruit pie"

- Anita Bryant after being hit in the face with a pie in Iowa by Minneapolis gay rights activists Thom Higgins on October 14, 1977



“I am not going to be forced out of San Francisco by splinter groups of radicals, social deviants, and incorrigibles. You must realize there are thousands upon thousands of frustrated angry people such as yourselves waiting to unleash a fury that can and will eradicate the malignancies which blight our beautiful city.”

- On campaign literature from Dan White running for a seat on the board of Supervisors in San Francisco 1977




"Faggot, Faggot, Faggot!"

- Screamed by 19 year old John Cordova as he attacked and stabbed Robert Hillsborough to death in San Francisco June 21, 1977




"HOMOSEXUAL ELECTED TO SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR"

- Headline in national newspapers Nov. 10, 1977 the day after Harvey Milks wins
election.



“All over the country, they're reading about me, and the story doesn't center on me being gay. It's just about a gay person who is doing his job.”

- Harvey Milk after his election to San Francisco City Supervisor 1977



“More people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, my friends, that is true perversion.”

- Harvey Milk 1977



“Rights are not won on paper. They are won only by those who make their voices heard.”

- Harvey Milk 1977





"MARCH AND RALLY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS!" Assemble at State Capitol! Our democratic rights are being threatened. We must respond!

- flyer handed out to people leaving gay bars in Minneapolis and St. Paul April 1978 in response to decision to put St. Paul's gay rights to a vote




"Vote NO on the repeal of human rights Tuesday April 25th. Let’s not legalize discrimination in St. Paul."

- door hanger in St. Paul April 1978


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3136/2944155899_b356015cc5.jpg
Bumper sticker in Minneapolis 1978




“Let us walk in the sunshine of human rights”

- a quote from Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey on a huge banner carried in the march and rally in support of St. Paul’s gay rights ordinance April 19, 1978




“We will not have discrimination, we will not have hate, and we will not have hypocrisy living in this city. We will put it down and we will put it down forever.”

- St. Paul Mayor George Latimer addressing a crowd of 2,000 gay rights supporters on the steps of the capitol building in St. Paul April, 19, 1978, six days before the vote to repeal the city’s gay rights law.





"You see, you’ve awaken a sleeping giant. The vast majority of American People is coming awake and taking a stand."

- Anita Bryant’s husband, Bob Green addressing 8,000 at the God and Decency Rally in St. Paul Minnesota six days before the repeal of the city’s gay rights ordinance April 25, 1978




"Gay Rights Defeated in St. Paul"

- Headline in Minneapolis Tribune April 26, 1978




"Once again, as in Dade County nine months ago, the morally committed majority has gained a great victory. The message to the politicians is clear: No longer will God-respecting American submit to the oppressive yoke of militant, politically organized immorality.”

- Anita Bryant, after the defeat of St. Paul’s gay rights ordinance April 25, 1978









"It is clear now that we must let the people of St. Paul know who we are -- we are your accountant, your lawyer, your waitress and the clerk in your favorite store. We are your police officer, electrician and doctor. We are your neighbor, your friend, brother, sister and even your parent. We are your children."

- Statement by spokesperson for St. Paul Citizens for Human Rights to Integrity Twin Cities after the defeat of the city’s gay rights ordinance in 1978




"Boycott St. Paul !"

- bumper sticker in the Twin Cities after the defeat of gay rights ordinance in St. Paul Minnesota in 1978




Every man wants to be a macho man
to have the kind of body, always in demand
Jogging in the mornings, go man go
works out in the health spa, muscles glow
You can best believe that, he's a macho man
ready to get down with, anyone he can

The Village People - 1978





“Our community could become a haven for practicing homosexuals, lesbians, prostitutes and pimps.”

- from a pamphlet distributed by the Concerned Citizens for Community Standards of Wichita, Kansas May,1978



“From the conservative and fundamental south to the liberal and progressive north and now to the middle of America, people from all walks of life have sent out the message that they still consider the homosexual lifestyle unnatural and are unwilling to accept it”

- Reverend Richard Angwin after gay rights ordinance was repealed in Wichita, Kansas May 10, 1978




"It is now obvious that the will of the American people is to return this country to pro-family, Bible morality."

- Anita Bryant after the repeal of Wichita’s gay rights ordinance May 10, 1977




"WICHITA MEANS FIGHT BACK!!"

- Slogan chanted by 1,000 protesters marching to Union Square in San Francisco after learning of the defeat of the gay rights ordinance in Wichita, Kansas May 10, 1978





"We are against any select group having their conduct protected."

- Campaign Worker for the anti-gay group VOICE after the repeal of the gay rights ordinance in Eugene, Oregon May 23, 1978



"Our determination to confront this neo-fascist anti-gay rights crusade has not wavered in the wake of Dade County, Wichita, St. Paul, Eugene - or in anticipation of the struggles ahead. If anything, we grow angrier, we grow stronger, we work harder to confront and expose the opposition…"

- Kay Whitlock, chair of the National Organization for Women Lesbian Rights Committee - New York City at the Gay and Lesbian Pride Rally June 1978




“One third of San Francisco teachers are homosexual. I assume most of them are seducing young boys in toilets.”

- California Senator John Briggs 1978 who initiated The Briggs Initiative to outlaw homosexual teachers in California in 1978




"LOVE BRINGS JUSTICE"

-sign on float in 1978 San Francisco gay pride parade




"Labor must oppose Briggs initiative! Full democratic rights for homosexuals!"

- Banner in 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade




“Disco, disco party baby
music that sets you on fire, higher

Dress the way you please, and put your mind at ease.
It's a city known for its freedom

Freedom, freedom is in the air, yeah
Searching for what we all treasure - pleasure."

- Lyrics from the Song “San Francisco, You got Me” by the Village People 1978




[San Francisco is] “The moral garbage dump of homosexuality in this country.”

-Senator John Briggs describing San Francisco in 1978




“Whatever else it is, homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles. Prevailing scientific opinion is that an individual's sexuality is determined at a very early age and that a child's teachers do not really influence this.”

- California Governor Ronald Reagan in a letter to a pro-Briggs Initiative group in which he opposed the Briggs Initiative September 24, 1978




"I had a friend who was gentle and short
Got lonely one evening and went for a walk
Queerbashers caught him and kicked in his teeth
He was only hospitalized for a week"


- Song lyrics by gay rock singer Tom Robinson 1978





"NO ON 6! STOP BRIGGS! PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS!"

- From a pamphlet by the Bay Area Committee Against the Briggs Initiative August 1978




"John Briggs said this morning that Dade County, Oklahoma, and St. Paul, Minnesota were only preliminary battles. He called his California Campaign against homosexual teachers the main event."

- TV New reporter in San Francisco in reference to California John Briggs initiative to outlaw gay teachers in California 1978 ( from The Life and Times of Harvey Milk)




"Jimmy Carter, listen to us! You want to lead? You want to be the world’s leader in human rights? Well damn it, LEAD! There are 15 million lesbians and gay men waiting to hear your voice!"

- Harvey Milk at a rally in June 1978




"If a homosexual in Altoona will never have to be invisible again I will have done my job."

- Harvey Milk 1978




“Let me tell you right now. I’ve got a real surprise for the gay community. A real surprise.”

- Dan White speaking to gay San Francisco newspaper reporter Charles Morris November 1978





“Ah - Life is worth living.”

- Part of a thank you note Harvey Milk wrote to a friend November 24, 1978 ( from the book “The Mayor of Castro Street” by Randy Shilts )




"As president of the board of supervisors, it's my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed."

- Diane Feinstein’s announcement to the press 11:20 a.m. November 27, 1978




"OH MY GOD!!"

- A shout from the crowd in response to Diane Feinstein’s announcement Nov. 27, 1978




"In Memory of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, Life’s greatest gifts".

- Black bordered sign in the window of a Castro Street café the day Milk and Moscone were assassinated in San Francisco November 27, 1978




"MAYOR - MILK - SLAIN; DAN WHITE SEIZED"

- Headline from San Francisco Examiner November 27, 1978




“We heard shots but we were unaware at the time that the shots came from the room…..Dan came running into the room looking wild.”

- Mayor George Moscone’s press secretary, Mel Wax, describing the scene at San Francisco City Hall November 27, 1978




“He was a wild man. Just a wild man.”

- An aide to a city supervisor describing Dan White the day of the murders at City Hall November 1978





“Happy Anita?”

- A hand-lettered sign at San Francisco City Hall by an angry gay man the afternoon of Harvey Milk’s assassination





"As long as I know how to love
I know I will stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give
And I'll survive
I will survive "

- Gloria Gaynor Disco hit 1978




"OPEN SEASON - COP KILLS FAG - GOES FREE"

- protest sign in San Francisco after the Dan White Verdict 1979




“Get out you goddamn queers!”

- Verbal assaults by cops raiding a the Elephant Walk Bar on Castro Street during the White Night riots May 1979




“He got away with murder! He got away with murder!”

- chants by a crowd of gays and lesbians in front of San Francisco City Hall May 21, 1979





“Just tell people that we ate too many Twinkies.”

- a rioter as he torched a cop car in San Francisco May 21, 1979




“Kill Dan White!”

- Shouted by an angry mob of gays on their way to protest at San Francisco City Hall after hearing Dan White’s verdict for murdering Harvey Milk May 21, 1979




“Squad cars burn in the streets during a six-hour riot by thousands of homosexuals in San Francisco.”

- caption under photo in Newsweek Magazine May 1979





“I know feelings are running high in the city and I understand and I share them. But there is no excuse for this kind of violence.”

- Mayor Diane Feinstein pleading with rioters in San Francisco May 22, 1979




"Kill fags! Dan White for Mayor!"

- graffiti in San Francisco late 1978





"Street rioting in San Francisco that left 140 people injured demonstrates the rising militancy of homosexual activists in American politics."

- from an article in US News and World Report June 4, 1979




"Disco Sucks!"


- shouted by 47,000 baseball fans at a White Sox - Detroit Tigers double header game at Comiskey Park in Chicago on July 12, 1979. A riot broke out as fans ran out onto the field destroying disco records. The second game was cancelled.




“All Fags Must die!”

- Message written in toothpaste in apartment of Les Benscoter a gay man murdered in St. Paul, Minnesota June 1979





“A National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights is being planned for October 14, 1979.”

- from an article in the first issue of Positively Gay Newspaper June 1, 1979,
Minneapolis




"100,000 Predicted for National March"

- Headline from Positively Gay October 1979




"Lookin' for a lover who needs another
don't want another night on my own
wanna share my love with a warm blooded lover
wanna bring a wild man back home."

- Lyrics to Donna Summer’s disco hit "Hot Stuff" summer 1979




"Homosexuals - You devils are not welcome here"

- Sign greeting people arriving for the 1979 March on Washing for Lesbian and Gay Rights October 14, 1979




"Look at us - 250,000 - Eat your heart out Anita Bryant!"

- Speaker at the 1979 March of Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights



"They’ve got to understand something! We are not talking about crotch politics! This is NOT a movement from the waist down. We’re talking about our right to love and to choose and to live! And I don’t care about straight tolerance! And I don’t care about straight understanding! You better hear me in Washington. We are demanding…..we are demanding…. OUR CIVIL RIGHTS!!"

- part of a speech given by lesbian activist Robin Tyler during the 1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights




"We must destroy the myths once and for all. We must continue to speak out and most importantly every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is, you must tell your family, you must tell your relatives, you must tell your friends, you must tell your neighbors, you must tell the people you work with, you must tell the people in the stores you shop in, and once they realize that we are indeed their children and that we are indeed everywhere, - every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all. And once you do you will feel so much better."

- Harvey Milk, San Francisco November 7, 1978





"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door."

Harvey Milk - 1978





Rick

[tdogg]

Profound Rick. Thanks. To all who have sacrificed, small or large, my heartfelt thanks. Even in the midst of election turmoil, I feel very blessed indeed.