So that Briggs Initiative I mentioned earlier, the 1978 ballot initiative for California to fire queer teachers defeated with the help of endorsements against by Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan?
Part of the context was San Francisco, which held proto-Pride “Gay Freedom Day” through the 70s and elected Harvey Milk in 1977, was a pioneer in “coming out” as a political tactic. And one angle they did there was gay schoolteachers coming out to their classes, like, “when you think of ‘gays’, realize you’re thinking of valued and respected civil servants/elder figures”
And by all impressions it was working, wasn’t it? If you projected the trends of the 70s out things would be settled by 1990, with maybe the groups like NAMBLA taking over at the fore.
But was that in fact how things played out, with the 1980s the finalization of gay liberation, trading on a reputation for gently connecting with young children?
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