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Anita Bryant:
June 1977, THE BARB - 3
A Crusade of Christian Bigotry
By Larry Laughlin
Voters in Miami and
Dade County, Florida
will dedide on June 7
whether or not to repeal
the county’s con
troversial gay rights
law. Not since the
Stonewall riots in New
York in 1969 has one
event so moved the gay
community nationwide.
Donations totaling more
than $300,000. have
poured in from every
^tate to the Dade
County Coalition for
Human Rights, the
organization developed
to fight for gay rights in
Miami. Extensive
national coverage has
been given to the vote
largely because of the
infamous Anita Bryant
campaign against the
ordinance. Bryant and
her organization, Save
Our Children, Inc., have
vowed to carry their
distorted, hate-filled
message to every part
of the country if their
effort in Dade County is
successful. In short:
there is much more at
stake in Miami than the
passage of a local gay
rights ordinance.
The ordinance
responsible for Bryant’s
wrath simply protects
the rights of Dade
County gays in em
ployment, housing, and
public accomodations.
Over 40 counties and
cities nationwide have
passed similar or
dinances with no
problems. But Bryant
and her fundamentalist
followers claim the
passage of such civil
l ights legislation will be
“the end of the United
States of America.”
Since passage of the
ordinance on January 18
of this year, Bryant and
Save Our Children have
been issuing in
creasingly outrageous
statements on the
subject of
homosexuality, based
solely on ignorance,
fear, predjudice, and
individual in
terpretations of the
Bible. The trump card
for Save Our Children is
the belief that
homosexuals have to
“recruit” children to
“freshen their ranks”
because they “do not
reproduce” - thereby
playing on the oldest
myth about
homosexuality: child
molestation. From this
emotional, untrue
premise the statements
get wilder and more
hysterical.
Save Our Children is
appealing to a large
group of Americans who
feel threatened on all
sides by the changes in
lifestyle they feel are
reflective of the “last
days.” For these people
homosexuality is the
last straw, the final
evidence that America
has completely suc
cumbed to decadence.
Their efforts may well
be the last gasp of a
dying minority of
religious zealots
.yearning to return to
the country to the more
repressive elements of
its past. The frightening
aspect is that they could
succeed. On the other
hand, Anita Bryant has
become the most im
portant unifying factor
for gays since
Stonewall. All segments
of the vast and varied
gay community are
horrified at Bryant and
what she represents.
She has proved to be a
much-needed spark for
a movement that has
been increasingly
fragmented and un
focused. What remains
to be seen is how the
majority of Americans
somewhere in between
the nay activists and
fundamental ist
Christians will react to
the battle.
Go ahead and be gay,
just pretend you aren’t.
Bryant has seriously
stated that the drought
in California is God’s
punishment for the
passage of liberal sex
laws in that state. She
has declared the reason
why God “hates”
homosexuals: “Because
the male eats another
man’s sperm. Sperm is
the most concentrated
form of blood. The
homosexual is eating
life.” Asked whether
God also hates
heterosexual women
who “eat life,” ab
surdities attributed to
Bryant and her
followers is a
depressingly long one.
So long that even the
Anita Bryant jokes
popular in gay and
straight circles are
developing a stale ring.
The only response left is
one of bewilderment.
Poet Rod McKuen has
gone from considering
Bryant a
“laughingstock” to
publicly calling her a
“dangerous” women.
Bryant may indeed
turn out to be the
destruction or the
salvation of the gay
cause. On the one hand
For most open-
minded people, the issue
is a simple one of civil
rights. Gays are a
minority, by most
statistics the largest in
America, and we are
harrassed and
discriminated against in
many ways, especially
if we are open. A recent
cover story in
Newsweek mentioned
that some straights
charge that
homosexuals do not
need civil rights
protection because they
can be invisible. Blacks,
for instance, are in-
dentified by skin color
and cannot hide. But
what self-respecting
Black would want to
“hide?” To claim that
gays wouldn’t suffer
discrimination if they
would only pass for
straight defies any logic
and defeats the very
purpose of a civil rights
law. Should Jews
pretend they are
Christians? To a large
extent the straight
AHEAD AND' BE GAY,
JUST PRETEND YOU
AREN’T.
As absurd as this
idea is, the arguments
by Miss Bryant and
Save Our Children are
worse, sometimes
hysterical. Bryant is
worried about gay
teachers molesting
children in school! She’s
worried that positive
gay role models will
sway untold numbers of
children into a life of
debauchery. She’s
convinced God (the
vengeful, male god of
the Old Testament) is
on her side, directly
leading her in this
“battle.” She reportedly
has called gays “human
garbage” while
claiming, “I don’t hate
homosexuals, I love
them. It’s
homosexuality I hate.”
Good Christians from
coast to coast are
providing Bryant with
dollars and a chorus of
“amens.” Even the
state legislatures of
Oklahoma and Arkansas
have passed resolutions
of approval. The
governor of Florida
sends his support
declaring. “J don’t want
my children being
taught by a
homosexual.” The
governor also claims
that “there are no gay
people” on his staff.
Interestingly the
Book of Leviticus is
most often used as the
basis for the Bryant
hate campaign against
gays. And filled with
hate it is. Called the
“Book of Ludicrous” by
some, it consists of a.
seemingly endless list of
things forbidden to the
children of Israel.
Punishment varies from
being declared “unclean”
to outright stoning of
the offender to death.
Two speakers at a
church is Atlanta
recently suggested
returning to this God-
given solution to
homosexuality. The
interesting thing is that
even Anita Bryant
would probably be
punished if the laws of
Leviticus were im
plemented - at least she
would be “unclean.”
Lobster, shrimp, pork
and a long list of
commonly eaten foods
are forbidden. Like
homosexuality, it’s an
“abomination.” Women
should cover their
heads, never wear red,
and perform elaborate
rituals to cleanse
themselves from the
“uncleanliness” of
menstruation. Happily
APPLY ANY MORE.
(The love of God,
Christ’s sacrifice, and
all that, you know.) But
out of hundreds of
passages on don’ts in
Leviticus, the two
references to
homosexuality are
unchangeable, timeless,
and written in stone by
God Himself.
Trying to reason or
debate with these people
is impossible. They
have no time to listen,
but lots of things to say.
And sing. On a recent
television show with gay
activist Robert Kunst,
that the large per
centage of undecided
voters will determine
the outcome. What
worries most activists is
the fear that apathy will
prevent some gays and
most sympathetic
straights from voting,
while Bryant’s crew will
march to the voting
booths like Christian
soldiers goin® to war.
Gay activists and
concerned people around
the country have,
responded with dollars
and energy. Most gay
bars nationwide have
had some sort of
Anita Bryant has become the
most important unifying factor
for gays since Stonewall.
Bryant used half her
alloted time singing the
“Battle Hymn of the
Republic.” Take that,
gay activists!
Sensationalism and
outright lying are
evidently alright with
God if done by Bryant
and her followers. One
of their Miami Herald
ads recently claimed
that “25.000 boys 17
years old and under in
Los Angeles have been
recruited into a
homosexual ring” within
the last year. The
figures were supposedly
from Los Angeles Police
Department Chief Ed
Davis. Police officials in
Los Angeles claimed
they never heard of
such a report and added
Bryant’s ad was
“considerbly different
from what we said.”
Save Our Children
thinks San Francisco
may be “beyond
saving” because “they
have a gay sheriff.”
Actually, Sheriff
Hongisto is not gay but
is humanitarian enough
to stand up for gay
rights.
Clearly, anyone
swallowing Bryant’s
bitter brew is beyond
benefit. Jane Fonda,
Rod McKuen, Sen.
Edward Brooke of
Massachusetts, and
many other well known
people have demon
strated public support.
Gays from San Fran
cisco to Boston have
gone to Miami to help.
Jack Campbell. with
the Club Bath Chain
and chairman of the
Dade County Coalition,
has directed a vigorous
and reasonable cam
paign to support the
ordinance. Such efforts,
combined with the fact
that Bryant, in spite of
herself, is seen by the
general public as
misguided at least and
insane by many, is a
good indication that
reason could prevail in
Miami.
One thing is certain:
whatever the outcome,
the ramifications will be
felt for years. A host of
small, painfully gained
accomplishemnts by
gays could be swept
away and the gay rights
bill in Congress may be
doomed if Bryant is
successful. She will no
doubt, as promised,
brighten her halo, don
her seamless white robe
I don’t hate homosexuals,
I love them,
homosexuality I hate.”
It’s
media doesn’t seem to for Bryant, she and her
be able to grasp this* ilk are somehow im-
simple truth; this mune from all those
argument is presented embarassing old laws,
as a valid point. GO THEY JUST DON’T
reason. The only hope
June 7 is that reason
will prevail with those
who are undecided on
their feelings. According
to Harris and other
polls, the majority of
people favor supporting
the gay rights or
dinance. We can win.
But activists point out
and barnstorm the
country with her non
sense. If she loses,
however, the gay
movement will have the
sort of victory it needs
to continue the long
process of obtaining
equal rights for the
nation’s largest, most
misunderstood minority.