41. Send in the Clowns: Anita Bryant, the Briggs Initiative, and the Rise of the Anti-Gay Right

Buckle up, folks – this episode contains your hosts doing a lot
of swears and yelling at the general AAAAAAAAAHHHHH of the world
right now. For this episode, Leigh is joined once again by guest
host Aubree Calvin, for a crossover episode with Southern
Queeries talking about the rise of the anti-gay Christian right
movement and homophobic legislation that swept the United States
in the 1970s with Anita Bryant, Save Our Children, and the Briggs
Initiative, whose proponents used “parental rights” language to
justify their homophobia, in an eerily similar manner as we are
seeing today with anti-LGBTQ and specifically anti-trans
legislation and arguments. Listen to this episode to hear the
history behind all this, as well as some bits of levity we made
sure to put in (listen to Anita Bryant get hit with a pie and
learn about the glorious protest tactic of glitterbombing), and
hear how the LGBTQ community of yesteryear rose up to fight these
counter-movements, and what we can learn from them in today’s
fight. 


Then, when you’re finished with this episode, head on over to
Southern Queeries for the second part of our conversation,
talking in depth about the current rash of anti-LGBTQ legislation
in the country, our reactions and feelings, and how it’s the same
conversation and language as back in 1977 and 1978. 


Outline
0:00 – Introduction and Announcements
Content Warning: References to historical lies tying queer people
to child molestation and child pornography are contained in this
episode in the following time-codes: 14:23 - 16:59; 59:33 -
59:48; 1:10:54 - 1:11:06; 1:13:44 - 1:15:32
7:39 – Socio-Historic Context
17:16 – Dade County FL, Anita Bryant & Save Our
Children
32:06 – LGBTQ Response
51:03 – Word of the Week
57:35 – Spread Across the Country: John Briggs & CA’s
Proposition 6
1:17:12 – Main Takeaways and Conclusions
1:24:46 – Pop-Culture Tie-In
1:28:23 – How (Anti) Gay were They?
1:31:28 – Closing and Where to Find us Online



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