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we get started, a heads up. This

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episode contains sexual content, strong language

0:35

and a gay slur. It

0:37

may not be appropriate for some listeners. Why

0:41

don't you start by telling me your name

0:43

and what you do now? My

0:45

name is Ron Briggs and

0:47

I'm looking for work. Political

0:51

consulting is what I do actually, which

0:53

is always looking for work. And

0:56

on your dad's campaign, what did

0:58

you do? Yeah, I was

1:00

the gopher. Ron's

1:04

dad was John Briggs, the California state senator

1:06

who was pushing a plan to ban

1:08

gay teachers. It is not

1:10

a question of civil rights or

1:12

human rights, but it is

1:14

one of parents' rights and simply

1:17

one of morality. In

1:19

1977, Briggs was hoping to harness

1:22

the anti-gay backlash that Anita Bryant

1:24

had instigated in Florida. And

1:26

it seemed to be working. Even

1:29

though Briggs' gay teacher ban was still

1:31

just an unofficial proposal and hadn't been

1:33

placed on the ballot, he quickly

1:35

became a leader of the national movement to

1:37

restrict gay life. Well, my friend,

1:39

if you are not

1:42

aware that children are the target

1:44

for conversion into the homosexual way

1:47

of life, I don't think there's

1:49

any way of reaching you. In

1:51

California, John Briggs was drumming up support for

1:53

his campaign and it was up to Ron

1:56

Briggs to help him. He drove

1:58

his dad around the state and opened the door. mail

2:00

at his district office. Ron

2:02

was just 20 years old and already married

2:04

with a kid, so he really needed the

2:07

gig. I went

2:09

to all the fundraisers, went to the

2:11

events. I was never excluded from

2:13

any meetings. Ron knew his

2:15

dad was becoming an enemy of the gay rights

2:18

movement, but he didn't understand the full

2:20

extent of it until one day in the fall

2:22

of 1977. That's when Briggs' district office

2:26

in Orange County got an unusual visitor,

2:29

the head of the Los Angeles FBI.

2:32

We were told that there was a violent

2:34

offshoot of the weather underground that was plotting

2:36

to kill dad. The

2:39

weather underground, originally known as the

2:41

weatherman, was a radical left-wing group

2:43

that emerged from the anti-Vietnam War

2:45

movement. Its goal was

2:47

to overthrow the U.S. government, by

2:49

any means necessary. A federal

2:52

grand jury charged the 13 top

2:54

leaders of the weathermen with

2:56

plotting to bomb public buildings in Chicago,

2:58

Detroit, New York, and Berkeley, California. Only

3:01

one of the 13 is

3:03

now in custody. Now

3:06

the FBI was saying that it had

3:08

uncovered a new plot from a feminist

3:10

offshoot of the weather underground, called the

3:12

Revolutionary Committee. At first,

3:14

they'd talked about kidnapping Anita Bryant, but

3:16

they ended up landing on the guy

3:19

carrying Bryant's anti-gay torch to California. They

3:21

were going to blow up John Briggs. They

3:25

chose dad. They wanted a

3:28

nationally recognized name. Luckily,

3:31

the FBI had a bit of good news. Two

3:35

undercover agents had managed to infiltrate

3:37

the Revolutionary Committee. But

3:39

the feds were in a tough spot. They

3:41

couldn't arrest the would-be assassins until they started

3:44

to carry out their plot. So

3:46

in the meantime, a state policeman started

3:48

riding along with John Briggs as he

3:51

traveled around California. When Briggs and

3:53

his staff would stay at a hotel overnight, John's

3:55

son would share a room with the officer. to

4:00

death, and said, that's not a bitch, he'd go

4:02

to sleep in two seconds. And then at five

4:04

o'clock every morning, a guy would wake up and

4:06

smoke a camel. Even with

4:09

Officer Frank close by, Ron Briggs

4:11

felt like he needed to protect himself. He

4:14

got a gun permit and took a class

4:16

on how to recognize an assassination attempt in

4:18

progress. The instructor taught him to

4:20

put strips of scotch tape on the hood of

4:22

his car and all the doors every time he

4:24

left the vehicle. That

4:27

way, if there's any intrusion, you'd see the

4:29

scotch tape flick. One

4:31

day, Ron was driving down the highway with

4:33

his dad and Officer Frank. And

4:35

I see both tapes on the hood

4:37

flapping, just flapping vigorously.

4:40

So I said, Frank, look, tape. And he

4:42

goes, oh, crap. And he says, pawr.

4:45

If the tape was unstuck, that meant a

4:47

bomb might have been planted near the engine,

4:50

a bomb that could explode when

4:52

someone raised the hood. Ron pulled

4:54

into the next gas station. Frank

4:56

says, all right, I'm going to

4:58

take your dad. We're going to go hide behind the station over there.

5:00

When I do that, you tell the tenant to check

5:03

the oil and you run like hell. You

5:05

know, Frank's duty is to protect dad, right? Second

5:08

duty is maybe maybe to protect me. Sure

5:10

as heck isn't there to protect the other

5:13

guy. Ron

5:15

says he felt a little guilty, but

5:17

he did exactly what Frank said. Casually

5:20

asked for an oil check, then got the

5:22

heck out of there. I'm

5:24

cowering behind this cinder block

5:26

wall and this guy pulling

5:29

the oil off and saying, hey, you're okay.

5:33

As long as John Briggs was a target, he

5:35

was like a king who needed people to test

5:37

his soup for poison. It

5:40

went on like that for months until

5:42

five people were finally arrested for conspiring

5:44

to bomb him. During

5:46

that time, we used to always make my

5:49

dad's Senate aides who traveled with us at

5:51

times. We made them bring

5:53

the cars around. They

5:56

stopped coming with us. You're

6:00

laughing. It sounds scary. So who's

6:03

there is also for forty four

6:05

years down the road is funny.

6:09

Did it make your dad feel

6:12

more important that somebody wanted to

6:14

assassinate him? Oh I loved. This

6:20

is slow burn. Gaze against spring.

6:22

I'm your host or seen a clutter richie. For

6:26

most of his career, John Briggs

6:28

was a small time state legislator with

6:30

big dreams. But. In the Fall

6:32

of Nineteen Seventy Seven, he become famous

6:34

enough to and fire a left wing

6:36

bomb plot and be celebrated as a

6:38

right Wing hero. In

6:41

our first episode, you heard about all

6:43

the threats to California is flourishing gay

6:45

community in the Nineteen seventies. Now I'm

6:47

gonna tell you about where those threats

6:50

were coming. From. Briggs.

6:52

His crusade against gay teachers tapped

6:55

into a deep well of conservative

6:57

anxiety and a powerful network. Of

6:59

support. The state senator from

7:01

Orange County would work to harness those

7:04

on his road to political mori. I

7:07

think one child that lead into dispersal

7:09

that homosexuality is once out a little.

7:12

This is episode two to send.

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Briggs East a bug his father to write

8:32

down his personal history. Anything that might help

8:34

explain where he'd come from and how he

8:36

saw the world's. Finally, after

8:38

years of badgering, John handed his

8:41

son a document. And

8:43

Genius eight page the. And

8:45

like eight pages double space to

8:48

our that. The. Wasn't

8:50

much but it did include

8:52

one story that run sounds

8:54

illuminating. That. Age five,

8:57

he was tasked with getting the

8:59

chicken eggs. And.

9:01

He would sell the chicken eggs at

9:03

were an excess of or with his

9:05

family needed. Any sound

9:08

that. Is. He was held the

9:10

chicken eggs from certain people. They

9:12

did more. And

9:14

that. They would even plead with

9:17

him. And then he

9:19

writes. Power. I

9:21

discovered what power was at age five

9:24

or six. Letters

9:26

to the People The goddamn eggs. John

9:31

Breaks was born in the small town

9:33

of Alpina, South Dakota in Nineteen Thirty.

9:36

His. Father runs, grandfather was a veteran

9:38

of World war One and an

9:40

alcoholic. He. Would all the

9:43

pitcher very quickly. So my

9:45

grandmother jersey was left to

9:47

raise five kids. So.

9:49

She's. Gotten. The car

9:51

and they landed and we're in a park. l

9:53

A Foreigner. An Orange County approve

9:55

of Southern California is in the

9:57

air from any grows. The goal.

10:00

Our it to be packed and shipped to

10:02

every part of the country on the world.

10:05

Places mom, a cocktail waitress had

10:07

a hard time supporting her children.

10:09

John had to spend a few years in foster care

10:12

because money with so tight. Insists.

10:14

Grade: He tried to run for class. Nice

10:16

president but his teacher wouldn't let him because

10:18

his mom was. Divorced. And.

10:20

When he made it a high school,

10:23

he wasn't exactly a superstar. American

10:25

History teacher says breaks is just an

10:27

average citizen. But memorable and

10:29

old are some kids who will

10:31

peak and sixteen or seventeen and

10:33

are some have taken Solar thirty

10:35

to grow up and I think

10:38

of Briggs was one of those

10:40

slow roar apartheid. Briggs.

10:43

Join the Airforce after high school and got

10:45

his nose flattened in a boxing match. When.

10:47

He got out of the military he went

10:49

to Long Beach State and started and insurance

10:52

brokerage. He. And his wife Carmen had

10:54

three kids and raised them in Fullerton, close to

10:56

where he'd grown up. By

10:58

this point in the nineteen fifties, Suburban.

11:00

Orange County was the vanguard of. The

11:03

American right wing. It's. Residents had

11:05

elected Richard Nixon to Congress. And.

11:07

The John Birch Society of Fear

11:10

mongering, Civil Rights opposing group that

11:12

would seep a generation of extremists.

11:14

Social conservative was thriving in their

11:16

backyard. It's not surprising

11:19

that the John Birch Society of

11:21

strongest in Southern California where all

11:23

sorts of exotic political movements of

11:25

florist. Romberg says that Orange

11:27

County and the men who ran it said

11:29

his father on a path that he stuck

11:31

to. For Life. Than. The

11:33

mid sixties and early sixties he

11:35

was very Volvo or junior chamber

11:38

of Commerce. That's where

11:40

he met a man named Walter. Not. A

11:43

Very. Conservative, almost

11:45

neo nazi. you the John

11:47

Birch but he was are

11:49

super John Birch are. Walter.

11:53

Not is best known as the namesake

11:55

of the Knots Berry Farm Amusement park.

11:57

He also sponsor to School of Anti

11:59

com Them that enrolled more than seven

12:01

thousand students. To be

12:04

has protected. Your.

12:08

Breath have limited government

12:10

food. Had their freedom.

12:12

Individual save. Your Dad's

12:15

isn't good. a Nazi know rallies?

12:17

he did need scoring. John Berks

12:19

for that matter. Thank God that

12:21

this or not really shaped Dad's

12:24

political thinking. By.

12:27

Nineteen Sixty two, John Briggs was ready

12:29

to make his own name in politics.

12:32

Dad ran for the assembly. I

12:35

was five years old. That was my

12:37

first education into on politics. I had

12:39

to. I'm not kidding of this to

12:41

I had to stuff five hundred on

12:43

blogs. For go out and play every day.

12:47

Break last that first campaign for the

12:49

California State Assembly. To then

12:51

lost again two years later. You.

12:53

Can measure a man? Success.

12:56

Not by the number times. Said.

12:59

He gets knocked down, but by the

13:01

number times he just. He.

13:03

Was a persistent person and he

13:05

wouldn't mind failing you, just keep

13:08

trying. That's Ronald Fox. He

13:10

works on Briggs of Staff after he

13:12

finally won a seat in the Assembly

13:14

and nineteen Sixty six. Briggs

13:16

as part of a conservative sweet

13:18

that also saw former actor Ronald

13:20

Reagan get elected governor. Education

13:23

as a bulwark of freedom that

13:25

you remove it too far from

13:27

the community and the parents control

13:29

and education because the tool attorney.

13:34

Ronald Thought says that once places in

13:36

office he had a hard time making

13:38

friends. He was always kind of

13:40

the odd man out. In.

13:42

The early seventies he ran for caucus chair

13:45

in the assembly and Saudi had enough support

13:47

to win. But when the

13:49

votes got counted, a more moderate Republican

13:51

beat him and Briggs called his colleagues

13:53

liars for turning against. He.

13:57

Was earning a reputation for being

14:00

kind the volatile. The Ronald Fox

14:02

says his bosses passion sometimes got

14:04

results. Like. The time he stormed

14:06

into a committee chairman office to fight for

14:08

a piece of legislation. And. He

14:10

literally jumped. Onto. His desk

14:12

with a room full of people and basically

14:15

just say we're going to have this bill

14:17

and we're going to have it now. And

14:19

I mean. That. Takes a like just.

14:22

No matter how many times brakes got

14:24

shut down or took flat for his

14:26

antics, he never stops trying to boost

14:28

his profile. Dad saw

14:31

the mobility of of

14:33

politics as a way

14:35

to. Have

14:38

power which I believe in his

14:40

mind he called money. And.

14:42

For a Stooge. After

14:44

a decade in the assembly, Briggs

14:46

as political star started to rise.

14:49

In Nineteen Seventy Six, he was elected

14:51

to California's upper house, the State Senate.

14:54

And. His ambitions didn't end there. That

14:56

had aspirations to be governor. So

14:58

the polling the we did. Back.

15:01

Then showed with the right

15:03

issues. Dad's. Be a lot. Those

15:06

poll numbers suggested that a crusade against

15:08

gay rights could be the way to

15:10

go. Briggs. Seltzer in that

15:12

what he called a sexual a

15:14

counter revolution was brewing. That.

15:16

Millions of straight Americans were

15:18

feeling uneasy about this so

15:20

called movement of homosexuals. And.

15:22

He was ready to stoke their fear. For.

15:25

If is given the cloak of and mantle

15:27

of respectability has been an alternative lifestyle and

15:29

taught in our public education system. Yes, I

15:32

absolutely believe it is a threat to the

15:34

family Answer to this country. Briggs

15:36

launched an organization called to send

15:39

our children seamlessly cribbing from a

15:41

need A Brian's Save Our Children.

15:44

In Florida, Up Bryant had sought

15:46

to repeal a nondiscrimination ordinance to

15:48

take away equal protection that day.

15:50

After that had one, but Briggs

15:52

wanted to go further than just

15:54

legalizing discrimination. She was hoping to

15:56

wield the power of the seat

15:58

to persecute game. Four and a

16:01

target one group that was particularly easy

16:03

to smear. Great California, the

16:05

land of tensile and gold is

16:07

also become the land of revolt

16:10

and propositions the target this time

16:12

as homosexual teachers. In

16:14

California is pretty easy to get

16:17

a proposition on the ballot. That's

16:19

why you're always hearing about Trump,

16:21

This and prop that around California

16:23

elections. Now is something

16:25

called Proposition Six. The Briggs Initiative

16:28

calls firing any teachers in California

16:30

practice or advocates homosexuality. I can't

16:32

decree it. I get mandated. I

16:35

can't rule if I am Vb

16:37

New York Julian Franchise Democratic right

16:40

to vote on the issue. This

16:45

was John breaks his plan to turn

16:47

his idea into California law. All.

16:50

He needed to do was collect a

16:52

few hundred thousand signatures in the seat

16:54

with ten million voters and Proposition Six

16:56

or the Briggs Initiative would be up

16:59

for a public vote. The.

17:01

First ever statewide referendum on

17:03

gay rights. Then.

17:05

You know, we started to

17:07

get very, very nervous. That

17:10

was the an activist Gwen Crag. I.

17:12

Asked her to read be official language

17:15

of break this proposition. Oh

17:17

God. Assists. The

17:20

state funds of compelling interest

17:23

in refusing to employ and

17:25

in terminating the employment of

17:28

a school teacher, teaches a

17:30

school administrator or counselor who

17:33

engages in public homosexual activity

17:35

and or a public homosexual

17:38

conduct director that or likely

17:40

to turn to the attention

17:43

of. School children or

17:45

other school employees. Public.

17:48

Homosexual activity or conduct included

17:50

everything from having gay sex

17:53

and and indiscreet location to

17:55

what the Proposition called advocating

17:57

or promoting homosexuality. Being

18:00

out to your students and talking about

18:02

having a nice gay life could qualify

18:05

as advocacy or promotion. Soak, It

18:07

being a straight ally. This. Section

18:09

mit that anyone who was

18:11

a supporter who say will

18:13

i think. The gay people should

18:15

be allowed to teach in schools. Even

18:18

that gets you fired. Under

18:20

Briggs his plan, a school board could hold

18:22

a hearing about any out gay person who

18:25

worked in a public school. If

18:27

they were found to be unfit for service,

18:29

They. Be fired. That.

18:32

Really just struck a nerve

18:34

with me that people would

18:37

stare at it. the i

18:39

can't trust you around children.

18:44

The way John Break saw it,

18:46

this propose gay teacher ban was an

18:48

express ticket to the California Governor's

18:50

Mansion. Briggs. His ultimate goal

18:52

was to be Jerry Brown, the Democrat

18:55

who succeeded Ronald Reagan. But

18:57

the for that, he'd have to win the

18:59

Republican primary in June. Nineteen Seventy eight. Briggs

19:02

thought that if he could get his gate

19:04

teacher ban on the ballot at the same

19:06

time as the primary, he'd be assume and

19:08

for the Republican nomination. Every conservative

19:10

in the state would turn out to vote

19:12

against gay teachers and to check the box

19:14

for the guy trying to ban them from

19:16

public schools. The. Teaching

19:19

profession is riddled by the homosexual

19:21

element meaning that there are more

19:23

homosexuals for population in the teaching

19:25

profession then there is in the

19:27

normal population because as where they

19:29

can get to and recruit our

19:31

children and me by recruit I

19:33

recruit I mean tried to entice

19:35

them into the lifestyle of homosexuality.

19:39

One of the big talking points of

19:41

the campaign was. Implying

19:43

are flat out saying that you know

19:45

gay teachers were likely to molest your

19:47

kids. Did your dad? Do you think

19:49

he actually believes that. Why know?

19:51

deadly? This. I believe

19:54

he personally thought there was a

19:56

group of people that needed to

19:58

be corralled. What we

20:00

would do it is educating the public

20:03

add to the dangers of homosexual teachers,

20:05

homosexual counselors and homosexual immorality and general.

20:07

Would have other day bus driver know

20:09

I would want a homosexual bus driver

20:12

driving my kids a classroom and I

20:14

don't think the people california do either.

20:18

Briggs was now a household name

20:20

in California. a former nobody would

20:22

become. the say is of an

20:24

intensifying war on homosexuality, and in

20:27

his fight against gay teachers, he

20:29

had decades of American history. To

20:31

drawn. Will

20:35

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power for. John

21:53

brings didn't invent the idea that gay

21:55

teachers present a unique threat to children.

21:58

Neither did Anita Bryant. That claim

22:00

had been around for ages and it

22:03

really took hold in the Nineteen fifties

22:05

when Us. Senator Joseph Mccarthy was leading

22:07

the charge against Communists and. Queers.

22:10

Rape her heart of every

22:12

prior to a blackmailer for

22:14

dangerous to the structure. And

22:17

Nineteen Sixty, the Us. and it

22:19

took up an investigation into homosexuality

22:21

in the Federal government. Karen.

22:23

Braves is a historian of education.

22:26

They released a report in December

22:28

of. That year in.

22:31

The report stated than I'm quoting

22:33

here, that even one pervert can

22:35

have a corrosive influence on young

22:37

and impressionable. People. A

22:40

few years later, and nineteen Sixty

22:42

three, President Dwight Eisenhower band gays

22:44

from the Federal government and government

22:47

contractors setting off a witch hunt

22:49

that became known as the Lavender

22:51

Scare. By

22:53

the been Nineteen sixties, state and

22:55

local governments had issued their own,

22:57

them, making more than twenty percent

22:59

of American jobs unavailable to openly

23:01

gay people. And

23:03

the repression escalated from

23:05

their states. started passing

23:07

laws regarding forced hospitalization

23:09

for people found. In

23:12

violation of. What? They might

23:14

call crimes against nature and imprisonment

23:16

was a very real threat. Gay.

23:19

People didn't have any major political group

23:21

to help them fight these attacks. One.

23:24

Of the earliest gay organizations,

23:26

the Madison Society was small

23:28

and ten a conservative more

23:30

concerned with assimilation than radical

23:32

social teens. In. The mid

23:34

fifties, it was actually undergoing it's own

23:36

communist purge. Gay. And lesbian

23:39

Americans were isolated and scared. And.

23:41

Gay teachers were especially vulnerable. There's.

23:44

Even one teacher in this category in

23:46

our school. We want that teach removed

23:49

from the classroom and we have been

23:51

doing just that for many years. Teachers.

23:54

Deal with children. And so

23:56

people might say, gilmore is at stake with

23:58

that to guard our children. Have

24:00

a right to scrutinize. The.

24:02

Behavior of the people engaged in this work.

24:06

In the nineteen fifties, California Police

24:08

chiefs would notify school superintendents whenever

24:10

a teacher was arrested for immoral

24:13

or deviant behavior. Even if the

24:15

arrest with later thrown out. guilty

24:17

or not, the teacher would often

24:19

be fired. Teachers

24:21

in Florida where even worse off. With

24:24

L as a police department has

24:27

risen Florida State University students as

24:29

informers against homosexuals. The students get

24:31

ten dollars a head every time

24:33

one as approach by suspected sex

24:36

offender. The Florida State

24:38

Legislature had a group called the

24:40

Johns Committee named for it's chairman

24:42

Charlie John. It rounded up any

24:44

educators suspected of being gay. They

24:47

often would appear at a teacher

24:49

or professors classroom fuller in the

24:51

middle of their their day and

24:53

for them away Then they'd be

24:55

taken into private interrogations with no

24:57

lawyers to represent them. The.

24:59

Interrogator would just ask pretty much the

25:01

same set of questions: how long have

25:04

you had homosexual tendencies? what kind of

25:06

sex acts? Do you practice? Mean

25:08

your partner's. By

25:11

the early sixties, the Genes committee

25:13

had revoked seventy one teaching certificate,

25:15

with one hundred and sixty three

25:17

more suspect still pending. The

25:20

committee published a report summarizing it's finding.

25:23

It. Became known as the Purple Pamphlets.

25:25

The front cover was in purple print.

25:28

The. Purple Pamphlet was supposed to be

25:30

a resource for law enforcement, school administrators,

25:32

and anyone else tasked with rooting out

25:34

gay employees. But. Some Saxon

25:37

like a ten page glossary almost

25:39

read like an instruction manual. Ever

25:42

wonder what it means to Sixty

25:44

Nine The purple Pamphlet to tell

25:46

you that included. A few

25:49

photographs on the front part of the

25:51

booklet is a full length photo of

25:53

two men undressed down to their waste

25:55

embracing says seen. on the last page

25:58

of the pamphlet there was a. Picture

26:00

of a man with his eyes blocked

26:02

out for anonymity, availing himself of a

26:04

restroom glory hole. People

26:06

across the country found out about it and they got

26:09

letters from all over for people wanting to get their

26:11

hands on a copy of the purple pamphlets. For

26:13

like furry and reasons we have

26:15

them from one might assume. The.

26:18

Purple pamphlet backfired. using.

26:21

Taxpayer dollars to create a piece of

26:23

gay erotica caused such a scandal that

26:25

it helped forced the Genes Committee to

26:27

disband. But. The demonization of

26:29

gay teachers had already done it's job.

26:33

Or maybe feminists auditorium? Or

26:36

maybe some here today that will be homosexual in

26:38

the future. Or maybe some girls it'll

26:40

turn lesbian. We. Don't know. But

26:42

it's serious. Don't kid yourselves about it. I

26:45

can be anywhere. We. A know we've arrested

26:48

all of them. Periodically.

26:50

Throughout history. People. Seize

26:52

Upon Schools use students as

26:55

Pawns teachers as Pawns school

26:57

issues as a wedge issue.

27:00

So. I have any one of you. Have let

27:02

yourself become involved with an adult

27:04

homosexual. I was another boy. You.

27:06

Better stop quick. Because one

27:09

outta three of you will turn

27:11

queer. People. Stir up

27:13

C Or and hysteria. And that's

27:15

what happened with the Johns committee.

27:17

That's what happened with the Briggs

27:19

Initiative. In. Nineteen

27:21

Seventy Five, The Us. Civil Service Commission

27:24

ended the ban on gay people in

27:26

the federal workforce. As you

27:28

heard in our first episode that was

27:30

the same year California legalized gay sex.

27:33

It. Was a time of rapid growth

27:35

for the gay rights movement. Advocacy

27:37

groups were popping up everywhere and

27:39

gaining momentum. Another

27:42

American minority as loudly

27:44

demanding equal for this

27:46

minorities as a homosexual,

27:48

less and less willing

27:50

to keep quiet as

27:52

high as more and

27:54

more willing to make

27:56

demands as obvious. As

27:59

day we. Pushed for more, a

28:01

furious anti gay backlash started to

28:04

emerge. And once again,

28:06

gay teachers were singled out. How

28:09

can we possibly have a law

28:11

giving special rights. To

28:13

sex devious without infringing on the rights

28:15

of our children. In

28:17

October Nineteen Seventy seven, the Us Supreme

28:19

Court refused to hear an appeal from

28:21

a gay teacher who'd been fired in

28:24

Washington State. Allowing his dismissal

28:26

to stand. That same

28:28

year. The press turned out

28:30

story after story about predatory

28:33

gay people. Sixty Minutes, Time,

28:35

Magazine, Newsweek, and major newspapers

28:37

all ran features on child

28:39

pornography, and the coverage often

28:41

emphasize gay men who abuse

28:44

boys. The

28:46

cases that those media outlets highlighted

28:48

were real and horrifying. But.

28:50

The vast majority of child

28:52

sexual abuse then and now

28:54

is perpetrated against girls by

28:56

heterosexual men, often family members.

28:59

But even though there was no epidemic

29:01

of gay pedophile or any evidence that

29:03

gay people abuse kids, that a higher

29:05

rate. Than straight people. Any one

29:07

instance of The Gates Heil molester would

29:09

be used against the whole community. So.

29:14

By the time John Briggs came along

29:16

with his gay teacher back in Nineteen

29:18

seventy seven. People. Across the

29:20

Us were already wondering. Said.

29:23

We trust gaze around our kids. Many

29:26

people feel homosexuals are. Potential.

29:28

A Saucers specially of children and

29:31

young voice. It seems that there

29:33

was this sort of witch hunt

29:36

going on where you are constantly

29:38

hearing this homophobic rendered gates users

29:40

have been teachers were endangering young

29:43

people. That steven trope, ya

29:45

know? As. A high schooler in the

29:47

nineteen seventies, he knew he was gay, but

29:49

no one else did. And he

29:51

was starting to consider what he might do with

29:53

his life. The. First time I thought of

29:55

what my career my be was going to be

29:57

are being a teacher. But. It's

30:00

kind of sent discouraged and

30:02

even alone and afraid. All.

30:05

Those fear mongering media reports had

30:08

Stephen King than that a career

30:10

in education was an impossible goal.

30:13

But. There was another side to the

30:15

public conversation about gay teachers. In.

30:17

The Fall of Nineteen Seventy Seven, three

30:19

different prime time Tv shows took on

30:21

the topic. It. Was like no

30:23

network wanted to be left out of the

30:25

hot conversation of the moments. Stephen.

30:28

Watched every episode. I.

30:30

Read the Tv guide very religiously and

30:32

I actually looked up and I pods

30:34

assume ever doing this to see if

30:36

there were day episodes that we're going

30:39

to be on. First

30:42

with an A B C Sit com called Carter.

30:44

Country. In that

30:46

episode, a teacher gets fired when he's

30:48

out as gay his friends. The local

30:50

sheriff is weirded out at first, but

30:52

he comes to admire the teachers' bravery.

30:55

He kind of makes a point that. Is.

30:58

This man standing up for himself. That's the kind of.

31:01

Guy. I would walk my son or daughter

31:03

to have as a teacher. Next.

31:05

Up was one of America's most watched

31:07

says. C. B S's all in the

31:09

family. That episode signs

31:12

matriarch Edith Bunker going to her

31:14

cousins funeral home and finding out

31:16

only then that the cousins roommates

31:18

was actually her loving long term

31:20

partner. We. Have a happy,

31:22

wonderful, nice together. Twenty

31:25

five marvelous years. Oh.

31:29

Oh. Good.

31:32

I wonder y si nos and men

31:34

since. I

31:38

do you think that we would have been

31:41

allowed to continue to work as school teachers?

31:43

For one, know I.

31:45

Mean. That don't affect

31:48

the brain does this?

31:50

Could actually this episode one the Emmy for

31:52

writing. The. Third, so

31:55

to address a teacher's was that

31:57

A B C Series family. A

31:59

sauce lit drama with very special

32:01

episode vibe in this one. Everyone

32:03

loves a new teacher named Miss

32:05

Just up. Until. She gets outed

32:07

by apparent at a P t a meeting I

32:09

thought I'd say I found out by this true.

32:11

She is an avowed

32:13

less. Soon that

32:16

parent drops another bombshell. Miss.

32:18

Jessup once molested student.

32:21

It. Turns out that was a false allegation

32:23

that followed her from a previous school. Until

32:26

recently, homosexual men and women

32:28

have had to constant companions.

32:31

Fear. And shame. At.

32:34

That time I lived with both and so

32:36

I ran away. The. Show's

32:39

main couple sticks up for the teacher. And.

32:41

Their kid necessity student helps convince

32:43

her to stay. You. Can be

32:46

anywhere near finished teaching yet. I'm

32:48

even. If you think you are, I need you.

32:51

And I'm not the only one. And

32:53

we love you Miss Joseph. I

32:58

saw for the first time I

33:00

think television presenting impeding, maybe a

33:02

more sympathetic. A picture. Also

33:05

realizing that there are people who

33:07

are not gay and lesbian who

33:09

might be your advocates that supported

33:11

you. Stephen. Trope. Yano

33:14

did become a teacher. Now.

33:16

He's a professor of screen studies that Ithaca

33:18

College and wrote a book about queer storylines

33:20

on T V, including some of those episodes

33:22

that moved him as a teenager and Nineteen

33:25

Seventy Seven. They. All share

33:27

a common trajectory. The. Main

33:29

characters start out suspicious, even

33:32

homophobic, But. Eventually they rally

33:34

to the gate teachers side. And.

33:37

In Mississippi we feel for her because we

33:39

know how much she loved teaching and wouldn't

33:41

it be a shame if she was unable

33:43

to teach? Not.

33:48

Everyone who watched the miss just about the

33:50

sewed took that same emotional journey. Your.

33:52

Son Briggs in a radio interview.

33:55

That was a show that fear

33:57

not too long ago which portrayed

33:59

a. Lesbian school teacher. other

34:01

fine says it occurs and they

34:04

get talking about. The author is

34:06

called family as crack. The A

34:08

B C network news propagandize in

34:11

the American people that homosexuality, potato

34:13

homosexual teachers are all right. Briggs

34:16

wasn't the only one offended by the

34:18

messages he was hearing from the left

34:20

leaning entertainment industry. The seeming

34:23

infiltration of homosexuality into American

34:25

life was a major topic

34:27

of concern among conservatives and

34:29

religious communities. Television.

34:32

Movies It was starting, Then.

34:34

The. Gay rights agenda was becoming

34:36

more and more of public,

34:38

more more out, more and

34:40

more accepted. Le. Guard

34:43

Smith has were in dozens of

34:45

books on Christianity and Politics, including

34:47

one called Saddam Second Coming What

34:49

you need to know about the

34:51

deadly Homosexual assault. In. The

34:53

Nineteen Seventy, as he was a law professor

34:55

and one of John Briggs as most vocal

34:57

public allies. My concern

35:00

was of the vulnerability

35:02

of young people to

35:04

and in agendas. That

35:06

says, The same sex

35:08

relationships are an equal moral par.

35:11

With. Heterosexual relationships.

35:14

Look. Guard says he didn't think all gay

35:16

people should be banned from teaching. In.

35:18

Many of the parents probably wouldn't

35:21

even care if. A

35:23

teacher was quietly. A. Practicing

35:25

homosexual, but. Didn't

35:28

Sloan at all whatsoever. But

35:30

when you start hearing. People.

35:33

Talk about it and do so

35:35

in connection with. Public. Education.

35:37

Now you're starting to moles

35:40

Morality. You're taking away the

35:42

right of a pyramid over

35:45

of moral issues. What?

35:47

Were you worried about gay teachers doing in

35:49

the classroom that would affect young kids? Yeah,

35:52

I think the phrase came out later.

35:54

Gays? Okay. Any

35:56

message that is given to children that

35:58

gays okay. That's a

36:00

concern to me. Was. Then

36:03

is now. So. Kids

36:05

should know that it's not okay to be

36:07

gay. Yes, That

36:09

there's not a moral equivalency. In.

36:12

California. A lot of teachers believed

36:14

that gay with okay. One.

36:17

Of them was Tom Ammiano. Putting

36:20

his area I

36:22

left house ran

36:24

no role, In

36:27

Ice Healing very nurtured by

36:29

the Tt experience and getting

36:32

really comfortable with San Francisco

36:34

that tolerance slayers acceptance of

36:37

gay people com as the

36:39

teacher. You heard about? in our

36:41

first episode in Nineteen Seventy Five, he

36:43

came out on the front page of

36:46

The San Francisco Examiner demanding anti discrimination

36:48

protections from the City School Board. He

36:51

and his fellow activists won that fight. When.

36:54

John Breaks came along a couple years

36:56

later with a proposition that would erase

36:58

that victory. Tom spoke out against Sit.

37:01

Here he isn't a Pbs news report talking

37:03

to a camera crew that visit his classroom.

37:05

Ability to for over ten years and

37:07

I've always had a good rapport with

37:10

parents and said of always seem to

37:12

have success with my students and I

37:14

really feel impugn by provinces and six

37:16

and sincere. It's a real seems shot

37:18

to come and it's had my worth

37:21

it when people don't know who I

37:23

am were with a kind of work

37:25

I do. John. Breaks

37:27

needed to collect around three hundred thousand signatures

37:30

to get his gay teacher ban on the

37:32

ballot. At first, other than Tom,

37:34

there weren't a lot of gay educators

37:36

who felt emboldened enough to publicly oppose

37:38

it. But. Soon another

37:40

teacher with sept forward and

37:42

safe and excruciating barrage of

37:44

personal attack. The way

37:47

to live in the legs and in California is that

37:49

a lot of. And

37:51

centered pretty much around me. Will

37:57

be back in a minute. My

38:07

name is Lee Hawkins. I've been a

38:10

journalist for over twenty five years. Or

38:12

my new podcast, What Happened

38:15

In Alabama. I investigate from

38:17

my family history, my upbringing

38:19

in Minnesota, and my father's

38:21

painful nightmares about growing up

38:23

in Alabama. What Happened In

38:25

Alabama is a new series

38:27

confronting the cycles of promise

38:29

for myself, my family, and

38:31

for many Black Americans. Listen

38:34

Now. Like.

38:39

A lot of gay people of his

38:41

generation Larry Burner credited Anita Bryant for

38:43

his political awakening. In.

38:45

I remember the night they can

38:48

be like says and I

38:50

just so angry. Of

38:53

this offseason, they are. You Do this. Larry

38:57

was a second grade teacher and

39:00

Healdsburg California, a small town in

39:02

rural Sonoma County. Before.

39:04

He died in Nineteen Ninety Five. He told

39:06

his story and an oral history. And

39:09

they would suggest that. that's. Just

39:12

not the ones in the water, right? And. This

39:15

is outrageous. When

39:18

John Briggs started his own. War on

39:20

Gay Teachers larry Salt Lake he needed

39:22

to do with parts. But Healdsburg

39:24

was no San Francisco. If Larry came

39:27

out he be putting a target on

39:29

his back. He wanted to set up

39:31

inside, but in a way that kept

39:33

him anonymous. When. He learned

39:36

that Briggs with hiring people to

39:38

collect signatures for of opposition Sir

39:41

X she saw a perfect opportunity

39:43

is Larry Burner against teacher would

39:45

go undercover as a Briggs Campaign

39:48

operatives. So.

39:50

I called the number. And

39:52

this middle as full moon certain. As

39:55

a to come dance floor apartment and pick

39:57

up the petition that I should be. The

40:00

parking lot. At. Her

40:02

Nike Sixty Eight flew under for her.

40:04

It. The. Very

40:07

clandestine encapsulated. And

40:09

I told a couple friends of mine before this.

40:12

First. Thing they also was valued better

40:14

tix airing out. After

40:16

so spots right off your that

40:18

Erin. Larry. Kept his

40:21

hearing in any way. The lady didn't

40:23

clock him. He told her my wife

40:25

Sandy and I would love to help

40:28

out the cause. She told him

40:30

to target high income areas, churches and

40:32

people over forty and that was it.

40:34

Larry. It was a registered purchase and

40:37

circulator. And

40:39

that's where it all started because

40:41

I have decided to write this

40:43

article about it. Larry

40:46

Reuters article for a small paper,

40:48

he helped launch the Sonoma County

40:50

Lesbian and Gay Alliance. New in

40:52

his story, he revealed that petition

40:54

circular leaders were getting paid fifteen

40:56

cents per signature. Enough petitions had

40:58

been sent to the National Rifle

41:00

Association and every police organization in

41:02

the state. And

41:04

with that piece, Larry did something

41:06

he'd never done before. He dropped his

41:08

anonymity and published it under his full

41:11

name. He said it was an

41:13

act of solidarity with other activists in a

41:15

way to encourage other gay people to take

41:17

the risks he believes were necessary to stop.

41:19

John Briggs. Well

41:21

it would not have been sexy. Device

41:24

has been sitting my clothes and some

41:26

of the people of danger yourself. Larry

41:29

wrote the article for a lesbian

41:31

and gay audience, but a couple

41:33

weeks later in a mainstream county

41:35

newspaper columnist scale a barren blew

41:37

his cover. Yes, her name was

41:40

gay. And of the second

41:42

paragraph and that was my name's. A

41:44

worthy me the on his have a recording of worth

41:47

the money. And get

41:49

out my heartfelt say. Larry

41:52

had planned to come out on his own

41:54

terms of some point during the Breaks campaign,

41:56

maybe to a local civic association? One school

41:58

was out for the year. But

42:01

our savior I was out.

42:05

At. School The next day, some of

42:07

Larry's coworkers asked him what's gonna happen

42:10

now. He. Said he had no idea.

42:12

But. It wouldn't take long for him to seal the fallout.

42:15

Within. A week he learns that Healdsburg

42:17

residents were passing around a petition to

42:20

get gay teachers fired. And. Soon

42:22

after that, a small group of parents pulled

42:24

their kids from his school. While.

42:26

They just were terrified of their

42:28

children had a homosexual for a

42:31

teacher. Ruth. Mahaney as a

42:33

lesbian activist who lived in San Francisco

42:35

and taught at Sonoma State University. They.

42:38

Believed all the stuff about

42:40

how gay men are dangerous

42:42

to children. It

42:44

ended up twelve children totally for filled

42:46

out of the school. Three

42:49

were pulled out my class and move to

42:51

different places. But other

42:53

parents stood up for him. They liked

42:55

him, send their kids liked him. He

42:57

thought he was a good teacher. I

43:00

had observed in his classroom. I

43:02

liked the with his methods of

43:04

teaching and we just felt like

43:06

will be that place for send

43:08

the been. It

43:10

was like a plot line from one

43:12

of those Tv episodes a small town

43:14

divided over again teacher with a big

43:17

showdown at a local school board meeting.

43:19

This. Man Tom following. Set

43:21

up with a. Petition. The

43:24

Five three hundred sixty signatures asking

43:26

that the board doors, the bricks

43:28

and this. And to

43:30

remove any homosexual teachers and

43:33

might be teaching and heel

43:35

spurs. No. Matter

43:37

how many signatures were on the petition,

43:39

the school board couldn't fire Larry for

43:41

being gay. Yet. The

43:44

Briggs Initiative would change that. Is

43:46

it past Larry would be on the chopping

43:49

block. At that

43:51

school board meeting for members said they

43:53

supported the gate teacher ban that they

43:55

would fire teachers like Larry if they

43:57

could. Only. One opposed it.

44:01

Right away Larry started getting calls

44:03

from other teachers. They. Said

44:05

they stood by him but that he'd be

44:07

better off as he just kept quiet. But.

44:11

You know, I said, wait a minute.

44:13

It's not just my career thought, same

44:16

Now we're talking about a statewide somebody

44:18

for matter. I've got to say everything

44:20

I can say. Leery had

44:22

never spoken to an audience thicker than

44:24

his classroom, but now it. He drove

44:26

into San Francisco to deliver a speech

44:28

to five hundred. People. In.

44:32

The months that followed, Larry did interviews

44:34

with the big Bay Area papers Say

44:36

L A Times and People Magazine. Nice

44:40

ticket losing blue people away

44:42

and bird because they were

44:45

us know. In the

44:47

past when a teacher got accused

44:49

of being homosexual, it was a

44:51

very hush hush Matter Alliance is

44:53

not fit that stereotype that that

44:55

is just the office that I

44:57

step daddy. Further. Leery

44:59

felt proud that he was speaking up,

45:02

but his bravery was attracting the worst

45:04

kind of attention. We.

45:08

Have a second grade teacher the uses

45:10

his status to find his homosexuality to

45:12

our school children are lawyer told us

45:14

under current law there is nothing we

45:16

can do about this problem. That

45:18

was an ad for the Briggs Campaign

45:21

recorded by a member of the Healdsburg

45:23

School board. A devout christian names Leelee.

45:25

She. Promoted The Brakes Initiative all over

45:27

the press, including in this interview where

45:30

she sparred with the Bay Area talk

45:32

show host. Has he molested

45:34

any children As the Is is oil

45:36

sands is coming out and saying that

45:38

he's on the essential that his offended

45:40

fence is the same city is a

45:43

rotten billboard for homosexuality Now gave me

45:45

a minute. Let me start with you

45:47

mean by that well it's a welcome

45:49

aboard by his totally to advocacy of

45:51

his lifestyle by publicly saying I'm homosexual

45:54

he is saying here I am Homosexuality

45:56

is fine and a little child who

45:58

had admire a teacher would say he

46:00

mom this man's a nice person. So

46:04

that must mean homo. Sexuality is okay. All.

46:07

That public criticism took a toll

46:09

on Larry. I had a lot

46:11

of inner turmoil. Like yes without

46:13

getting bored because I lost

46:15

about ten or fifteen pounds.

46:18

I couldn't eat. My smoking

46:20

just doubled during that time.

46:23

And the pressure was building because the

46:26

chief architect of the Briggs initiative was

46:28

going after Larry to. He

46:30

is not in their teachings. Second grade

46:33

curriculum is a nerd to today value.

46:35

Now he is in. There is a

46:37

living shining example of a homosexual second

46:39

grade school teacher. Not only the second

46:41

grade children third grade know that Fourth

46:43

grade. Know that Fifth grade. Those. Larry

46:48

Burner with everything that's on breaks

46:50

had been warning about. A

46:52

gay man who teaches seven year olds

46:54

flaunting his lifestyle in the news. He

46:57

was also a kind and gentle

47:00

teacher with a spotless personal history.

47:02

Song. Bridged could have found a

47:05

child molester. Somewhere.

47:07

And use that person is Floyd

47:09

in public with that is neat

47:11

you know and articulate person who

47:14

has no record of from dinner.

47:17

John Briggs trusted that the mere

47:19

fact of a teacher's homosexuality would

47:21

be disturbing enough to sway parents

47:23

to his side. He. Started

47:25

talking about Larry by name and

47:28

told reporters we don't let necrophilia

47:30

xp morticians. We've gotta be crazy

47:32

to allow homosexuals who have an

47:34

affinity for young boys to teach

47:36

our children. Verb

47:40

was your biggest say hey.

47:43

You. Know I'm homosexual, I'm a teacher and but you

47:45

can do about. John break the

47:47

sun run briggs. And to

47:50

Dad. Dad was

47:52

a boxer and he saw thousands

47:54

a good match. That approved

47:56

as point by were and the point

47:58

is they exist right? Do.

48:01

Teachers exist at all, right? And.

48:03

They were increasingly alarmed that this ballot

48:05

initiative could force them out of their

48:07

jobs. California have one

48:09

of the largest and most vocal gated

48:11

communities and country and days now believe

48:13

they are facing the foreigners attack yeah

48:16

on their civil rights. Doing the only

48:18

thing you could tell children if they

48:20

ask you you know teacher, what's a

48:22

faggot. The. Only thing you could

48:24

say was it's a disgusting perverted

48:26

my style but if he said

48:28

it's a man who lost another

48:30

man. That. You could be

48:32

fired for. That. Was terrifying.

48:36

It. Had only been a couple of

48:38

years since California repeal the sodomy ban,

48:40

opening the door for out gay teachers.

48:43

And to have it go away.

48:46

To. Have the ability of fire

48:48

someone because they were day. Was.

48:51

A very big deal and c stick your

48:53

neck out. Is this goes

48:55

badly for us? You could lose

48:57

everything. Next

49:10

time he went to burn. A

49:13

city supervisor from San Francisco think she

49:15

has what it takes to since the

49:18

Brakes Initiative. Can't.

49:39

Wait for next week's episode. Listen to

49:41

it Now. Immediately. Unlock

49:43

the first five episodes of Slow

49:46

Burn Gaze Against Spriggs by subscribing

49:48

to sleep. Plus. Your subscription

49:50

also gets you add free listening

49:52

across all your favorite sleep podcasts

49:54

plus other member exclusive content. Joined.

49:57

Now by clicking subscribe at the top of

49:59

the slope. Show page on Apple

50:01

Podcasts. Or. Visit sleep.com/slow Burn

50:03

Plus to get access wherever

50:05

you listen. Thanks. For

50:11

him. This

50:15

season of Coburn was written and

50:17

produced A Need for Seen a

50:19

Few to Receive Over and is

50:21

produced by Kelly Jones. Still mired in

50:24

Sophie Summer grad, Gasoline is the

50:26

editorial. Director of Blow Burn. Sir

50:29

John is or executive producer. Susan

50:33

Matthews athletes executive editor Merit Sake

50:35

of is our senior technical director.

50:37

We had engineering help from Patrick

50:39

For and Madeline Disarm or theme

50:41

music was composed a Lexus, Clutch,

50:43

Rato ideally Simone. as to the

50:45

cover art which features an image

50:47

of Silvana Know that from a

50:49

poster designed by Wary Hum Sin

50:51

and the Too Much Graphics Collective.

50:55

We have production help from Emily

50:57

gotta do, Jaffe Block, Dave Clark

50:59

Mccloy, A Studio pas media make

51:01

mean Cody shown birds and Aruba,

51:03

Nova and the Women's Audio Mission

51:06

in San Francisco. Some

51:08

of the audio you heard and are

51:10

so comes courtesy of the gay, Lesbian,

51:13

Bisexual, Transgender historical. Society Larry.

51:15

Burners oral history is from the

51:17

Hormel Lgbtq I A center at

51:19

the San Francisco Public Library. Special

51:22

thanks to Isaac Selman

51:24

as a Glbt Historical

51:26

Society Lillian Seder Men

51:28

Rami Collegial, Fred Cgs

51:30

Rachel Strum and that

51:32

Greenspan and fleets of

51:34

in town Madeline disarm

51:36

June Thomas Frying louder

51:38

Katie suffered that one

51:40

Td Rayford, Caitlin Snyder

51:42

Alexandra Cool. So she met

51:44

Haiti from Moon. Hillary

51:46

sigh and policeman family Vp

51:49

of Audio. Thankful.

51:58

Hi. I'm Josh with you. My.

52:00

Podcast. The Queen tells the

52:02

story of Linda Tail She

52:04

was a con artist, a

52:06

kidnapper. And. Maybe even a

52:08

murder. He was also given the

52:10

title the Welfare Queen. And. Her

52:13

story was used by Ronald Reagan to

52:15

justify Flash Again to the Poor. Now.

52:18

It's time to hear her real staring. Over

52:21

the course a few episodes.