0:00

This. This episode is

0:02

brought to you by Shopify. Do

0:06

you have a point of sale system you can trust or

0:08

is it A real Pos.

0:10

a real POS? You

0:12

need Shopify for retail. From accepting

0:14

payments to managing inventory, Shopify POS

0:17

has everything you need to sell

0:19

in person. Go to

0:21

shopify.com/system, all lowercase to

0:23

take your retail business

0:26

to the next level

0:28

today. That's shopify.com/ system.

0:31

Castro. Camera was the kind of

0:33

small business that wasn't very good at

0:36

being a business. it barely, if ever,

0:38

turned a profit. But.

0:40

In the nineteen seventies, it was a community

0:42

hub for gay San Francisco. A

0:45

sign in the front window said

0:47

yes we are very open. Their

0:51

would just be people hanging out there. All

0:53

day long shooting the ship. basically.

0:56

An Cronenberg spent a lot of time at

0:58

the store. The Kodak Kodachrome

1:00

film hanging from the walls

1:02

and the big purple red

1:04

velvet couched. Talk about bare

1:06

bones. I mean, this was

1:09

not some upscale cameras shop.

1:11

The term camera shop hardly even

1:13

applied. The store couldn't afford to

1:15

stock many cameras, so it mostly

1:18

just rented out equipment and developed

1:20

people's film. Danny who worked behind

1:22

the counter. Would look through all

1:24

the rolls of film before he gave them

1:26

out and see what you know there was

1:28

any porn. in their whatever and then

1:30

pass. All those pictures around so

1:32

it was just a crazy

1:34

place. The

1:37

shop took up the whole ground

1:39

floor of a two storey Victorian

1:41

on Castro Street. The owner lived

1:43

upstairs. his name was Harvey Milk.

1:46

Install remembers the first time she met him.

1:48

He was in the back of the. Shop

1:50

and he was screaming at the top

1:52

of his lungs at someone like what

1:55

is going on And to tell you

1:57

the truth, I was pretty intimidated. In.

2:02

The mid nineteenth seventy is Harvey

2:04

Milk was the unofficial mayor of

2:06

Castro Street. His. Quick temper was

2:08

usually quick to subside and he laughed

2:10

as loud as he yelled. And.

2:12

Even though he had never held elected

2:14

office, he had a knack for bringing

2:16

people together. Route Two

2:19

years ago proposed the idea of

2:21

a street fair and their produce

2:23

it there. it was phenomenally successful.

2:25

Harvey started. The Castro Street Fair to

2:27

prove the gay community had economic power and

2:30

to bring money to the neighborhood. He

2:32

also registered thousands of gay people to

2:34

vote. But. He never saw himself

2:36

as an activist for gay people alone.

2:39

If I'm parties to the rights of gay people,

2:41

said I am. That

2:43

I must fight for the races or people

2:45

Or the hypocrite. He was very

2:48

careful to always look for some sort

2:50

of common ground. That's Cleave Jones.

2:52

In our first episode, we met up at

2:54

a motel in the Castro. Cleave. Worked

2:57

closely with Harvey Milk in the nineteen seventies.

2:59

He could talk to a wealthy white

3:01

lady up and no appeal. He could

3:03

talk to a homeless streak it and

3:05

he would find that little commonality and

3:08

then he would build on the. Harvey.

3:11

Was developing a real grassroots following

3:13

in the Castro. And. In

3:15

the mid nineteen seventies, he started making

3:17

inroads with straight leaders. He. Didn't have

3:19

to go far to start building a political network.

3:22

The. Regional head of the teamsters lives just

3:24

a few blocks from Castro. Camera. Harvey

3:27

immediately understood just how momentous

3:29

the important to could be

3:31

if we could build a

3:34

coalition with Labour movement. Gay.

3:36

Activists were typically all about

3:38

solidarity and often found their

3:40

politics aligned with unions. But.

3:42

Maybe not this one. This.

3:46

Was the damn teamsters who

3:48

are considered one of the

3:50

more conservative unions who has

3:52

supported Nixon. The Teamsters are

3:54

you kidding? There will get

3:56

beat the crap audio. Thirty

3:59

One. Worried about the teamsters reputation

4:01

and the union leader who lived down

4:04

the street thought Harvey Gay Organizing could

4:06

help them take down a common enemy,

4:08

The Corps Brewing Company. Members

4:11

a really hot and this beer

4:13

strikes and negotiations are completely stalemated.

4:15

The. Teamsters had launched a strike

4:17

and a boycott against course because the

4:19

company was discriminating against with Chinos

4:21

and refusing to hire union truckers. Were

4:24

in the store asking the store owner

4:26

or the manager to remove the beer

4:28

from a store. We hope every store

4:30

will follow suit. Do the same thing.

4:34

Course. Wasn't just union busting

4:36

the company, it was deeply enmeshed

4:38

in all kinds of right wing

4:40

causes. and it was notoriously homophobic

4:42

Course actually force job applicants to

4:45

take polygraph test to prove they

4:47

were straight. Harvey told

4:49

the teamsters leader that he could get

4:52

gays to stop drinking corps, but he

4:54

wanted something in exchange. The

4:57

teamsters would have to start hiring

4:59

gay truckers. The union

5:01

eventual he.on board and in Nineteen

5:03

Seventy four, Harvey and his allies

5:05

got to work. Just. Saying

5:07

Work here. If you're buying Coors beer,

5:09

you are enriching a family that is

5:11

using them money to take away your

5:13

rights. Era was so people that we've

5:15

got power. Soon. It was

5:18

impossible to buy a corps at any

5:20

gay bar in San Francisco. That.

5:22

Was dramatic. You know you could our

5:24

people going out in the street and

5:26

emptying corps into the sewer. The

5:28

company's chairman, William Coors admit the

5:31

boycott has been successful. We

5:33

have suffered a loss as image

5:35

in the marketplace. Days. In

5:37

other parts of California, join the boycott

5:39

tail and sales of course Cel by

5:41

one third across the state. It's.

5:44

Such as important moments in

5:46

history because there had been

5:48

a few miners situations where

5:51

gay people and labor unions

5:53

had worked together. but this

5:55

was our first alliance. The.

5:58

Course boycott showed that gay people

6:00

in San Francisco could make themselves

6:02

heard. That. There was only so much

6:04

they could do in politics without one of their

6:07

own on the inside. And

6:09

the unofficial Mayor of Castro Street thought

6:11

was ready for the general. This

6:20

is slow burn days against Bring

6:22

on your Hands christina. Ricci.

6:27

In Nineteen Seventy Seven, Harvey Milk

6:30

with a charismatic political upstart determined

6:32

to win his community the respect

6:34

and the riots it deserved. John

6:37

Briggs was hoping to capitalize on a

6:40

growing backlash to everything Harvey represented. Together

6:42

they would rise to national recognition, each

6:44

making his name and opposition to the

6:46

other. And as Briggs got closer to

6:49

putting his gay teacher ban on the

6:51

ballot, it started to dawn on Harvey

6:53

and his allies that it would be

6:56

up to them. To stop him. This

7:00

know our problems as you

7:02

six is mistreated. Dangerous to

7:04

see through three games and

7:06

and amount. Versus

7:13

the Machine. There's.

7:22

Now a game changing products to use

7:24

before a night out with. Think it's

7:26

called the Biotics. Let's face it, after

7:28

a night with drinks it's tough to

7:31

bounce back the next day. You have

7:33

to make a choice. You can either

7:35

have a great night or a great

7:38

next day. The Biotic is a sure

7:40

fire way to wake up feeling fresh

7:42

after a night of drinking. The Biotic

7:45

pre alcohol probiotic drink is the world's

7:47

first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented

7:49

by Phd scientists to tackle rough morning.

7:52

After drinking. Here's how it works.

7:54

when you drink: alcohol gets converted

7:56

into a toxic byproduct in the

7:58

gut. It's this byproduct. Not dehydration

8:00

that to blame for your ruff. Next

8:03

day thebiotics produces an enzyme to break

8:05

the byproduct down. Just remember to make

8:07

Z Biotics your first shrink of

8:09

the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel

8:12

your best tomorrow. Go to thebiotics.com Flashed

8:14

slow burn to get sixteen percent off

8:16

your first order when you use

8:18

slow burn as check out thebiotics is

8:21

that with one hundred percent money back

8:23

guarantee. So if you're unsatisfied for any

8:25

reason, no refund your money. No questions

8:28

asked. remember to head to the. biotics.com

8:30

Flash flow burn and use the code:

8:32

Slow Burn A sack out for fifteen

8:34

percent off. Harvey

8:40

Milk never knew who he was.

8:42

For the longest time He went

8:44

through so many incarnations. Cleave

8:47

Jones again. By with

8:49

Harvey. People loved him. People

8:51

wanted to be around Harvey.

8:55

Harvey Milk was born in Nineteen Thirty

8:57

and grew up in a Jewish family

8:59

just outside New York City. After

9:01

college, he spent four years in the

9:04

Navy, but when harvey superiors discovered he

9:06

was gay, they forced him to resign

9:08

and gave him a less than honorable

9:10

discharge. He managed to

9:13

hide that. He said

9:15

forged papers that said he

9:17

thought an honorable discharge foods.

9:20

Lillian. Federman wrote a biography of Harvey

9:22

Milk. She says Harvey spent

9:24

his twenties searching for purpose. He

9:27

sold sewing machines for a while and got

9:29

hired as an assistant manager at a department

9:31

store. Then in the

9:33

mid nineties city is heavy sound work

9:35

that set more meaningful. He. Got

9:38

a job as a high school teacher on Long

9:40

Island. But. He only stuck around for a

9:42

year. Harvey. Was a

9:44

wonderful teacher but he was also

9:46

living with a man and he

9:48

was really afraid that it would

9:51

be discovered and I think that's

9:53

what went into his deciding that

9:55

he. Needed to quit teaching. Facility.

10:00

The prospect of being outed wasn't just

10:02

an abstract fear like a lot of

10:04

game, and he'd been harassed, say the

10:06

police. The. Year before he started

10:08

teaching, he was arrested in Miami

10:11

in what a police sergeant called

10:13

a routine crackdown on pervert. In

10:15

the gay male bars, undercover

10:18

policeman were often sense in

10:20

the and hundreds of gay

10:22

men were marched into Patty

10:24

Baggins. That run in with

10:27

the police could have gotten Harvey fired from

10:29

a lot of jobs including teaching. No.

10:31

Matter where he moves and he moved

10:33

a lot, there was always a conflict

10:35

between his personal life and his professional

10:38

one. She was dating and hooking

10:40

up, but it in public. He was closeted.

10:43

May be early nineteen sixties and all

10:45

kinds of ways he was still figuring

10:47

out who he wanted to be. He

10:50

had a good mass backgrounds says he's

10:53

found a job. On Wall Street.

10:56

Harvey. Was in his thirties then, and

10:58

he started dating Jacqueline Mckinley, who was

11:00

seventeen at the time. The year before,

11:03

Jack had dropped out of high school

11:05

and moved to Greenwich Village, leaving behind

11:07

his fundamentalist christian family. Sodomy was still

11:09

illegal in New York, so when Harvey

11:12

saw his street coworkers around town, he

11:14

told them that Jack. Was. Has ward.

11:17

Harvey would date a lot of young

11:19

men though not usually quite so young,

11:21

and he seemed to enjoy the role

11:23

of cultural mentor taking his partners to

11:25

museums and ballets. and he really loved

11:28

the the other. He

11:30

became an actor for a

11:32

little while. He was actually

11:34

an associate producer of a

11:36

broadway play which flopped. Harvey

11:39

started leaning into the hippie culture of

11:41

his new theatre crowd. He grew his

11:43

hair, grow a mustache, and started wearing

11:46

love beads after work. But.

11:48

He was no radical. He. Had

11:50

supported the arch conservative presidential candidate

11:52

Barry Goldwater, and the burgeoning

11:54

gay rights movement wasn't really on

11:57

his radar. Voters began

11:59

with a route. The police raid on a

12:01

homosexual bar for Stonewall on Christopher Street

12:03

in the heart of the West Village.

12:07

Has he was supposed to sound

12:09

system was almost every homosexuals or

12:11

with in New York as a

12:13

time of the Stonewall Rebellion has

12:15

his own private memory of what

12:17

took place. Is. Still, more didn't

12:19

mean the son of a lot to

12:21

him. But. Harvey did find

12:23

meaning in his gay identity. And

12:26

like tens of thousands of other gay

12:28

Americans, he felt drawn to the city

12:30

where was the easiest and most thrilling

12:32

to get out of the closet and

12:34

experience life in the open. Some

12:37

to San Francisco. Because

12:39

there has to be proud and

12:41

our. Harvey

12:44

first moved to San Francisco in

12:46

nineteen sixty nine when he was

12:48

almost forty. The change of scenery

12:50

accelerated had political awakening. Today

12:53

Tix: Medicare Bowyer. Was they

12:56

I had to speak out against the

12:58

war profiteers, large corporations of. In

13:01

Nineteen Seventy, he went to a demonstration

13:03

at the Pacific Stock Exchange and made

13:05

a speech condemning the invasion. He

13:08

also ceremonially cut up his Bank of

13:10

America credit card. The whole thing got

13:12

him fired from his job in finance.

13:15

And the with I walked through that do

13:17

I kept walking in and of the rather

13:19

else i was gay was by second a

13:21

huge burden off my back. I no longer has

13:23

of the the devil I. Freed.

13:26

From the shackles of the closet,

13:28

Harvey embrace the San Francisco counterculture.

13:31

Get. A ponytail and my first awareness of

13:33

him was I was thinking that he

13:35

was too old to be a hippie.

13:38

Cleave. Jones was about twenty years younger

13:40

than Harvey. He doesn't remember how they

13:42

first met. But Harvey made

13:45

a strong impression. I. Just

13:47

thought it was kind of silly women. He

13:49

also this tradition every year on his birthday.

13:52

Somebody. Would pie him. Coconut

13:55

cream pie for in the face.

13:58

It. Was nineteen seventy three when Harvey

14:00

open Castro Camera with his new partner

14:02

Scott Smith. Around that time

14:04

three seemingly unrelated things happens that

14:07

would change the course of the

14:09

blaze. First Harvey and Scott

14:11

had to get a business license. It

14:14

costs hundreds of dollars and

14:16

they could barely afford it.

14:18

He really so. Third, this

14:20

had to be fought against

14:22

that it was real exploitation

14:24

of people who wanted to

14:26

open businesses. Then

14:28

at once they'd opens the shop. A public

14:30

school teacher came in to rent a slide

14:32

projector. Harvey. Ouster of why do

14:35

need to rent one? Don't they have them

14:37

at school She said there weren't enough projector

14:39

for everyone. And Herbie

14:42

thought that was outrageous. There was

14:44

all of this money going into.

14:46

Paying for the police force

14:49

for undercover vice squad agents

14:51

that would pick on the

14:53

gay community when the money

14:55

should be going to lie

14:57

projectors for schools. And

15:00

finally there was Watergate. Thought

15:02

that the President know and when

15:04

did he know it? harvey? Watch

15:07

the hearings every day on a portable

15:09

T V that he brought down to

15:11

the shop from his apartment. Instead of

15:13

tending to his customers. every morning, he

15:16

would swear at. Ces

15:18

Nixon's henchmen and Into is

15:20

a you son of a

15:22

bitch and sometimes the customers

15:24

were scared. Ways Steer was

15:26

is crazy man, disheveled with

15:28

a beard smearing yet a

15:31

television. Sisters. These.

15:33

Three experiences changed. Harvey inspired

15:35

him to do something he'd

15:37

never considered. Before. Run

15:39

for public office. So

15:42

you the had a go at. shut up enough by

15:45

the papers anymore. Now watch more television anymore? Do something

15:47

about it. Openly. Gay candidates

15:49

were almost totally unprecedented at the

15:51

time. As far as anyone knows

15:53

their it only been three in American history.

15:56

In. Nineteen Seventy three, Harvey Milk

15:58

became the fourth. He. Ran

16:00

for a seat on the San Francisco Board

16:02

of Supervisors. Basically. The City

16:05

council. If I will

16:07

have a credit responsibility to the

16:09

city but I also know I will

16:11

carry the responsibility of gay community. As

16:14

a political outsider, Harvey needed all the

16:16

help he did get. And. As

16:18

the only openly gay candidate in the

16:21

race, he thought he'd at least get

16:23

the endorsement of San Francisco's Gay Political

16:25

Association. That group the Alice

16:28

Beat Hopeless Democratic Club with names for

16:30

the long time partner of the lesbian

16:32

later Gertrude Stein. There. Was a

16:34

coded reference, one that allowed the group to

16:37

avoid using the word gay. The

16:40

Our Speech Hopeless Club with old

16:42

school and cautious it's members believed

16:44

the smartest strategy was to support

16:46

straight democrats who backs gay rights

16:48

like Dianne Feinstein rather than wasting

16:51

their political capital on a good

16:53

candidate who never when. You

16:55

know they didn't want to rock the

16:58

boat. They did like

17:00

Harvey Harvey was to raggedy. Harvey was

17:02

too radical. I was never supported by

17:04

the gays average mint. The reason why

17:06

is if I one they were no

17:08

longer be the top of the hell.

17:10

they don't realize his room the top

17:12

for lot of people. At

17:14

one point one of these guys told him,

17:17

you know we're We're We're like the Catholic

17:19

church. We welcome converts, but we don't make

17:21

them Pope overnight. Harvey. Never got that

17:23

endorsement and on election day he

17:25

lost big time. Harvey.

17:28

Ran for office two more times in

17:30

the next few years. Every time he

17:32

was the underdog. The candidate with no

17:34

support. From the political establishment. He

17:37

tried to make that a selling point. One

17:39

of his slogans was a Harvey Milk versus

17:41

the Machine. Each. Time He

17:43

ran Harvey Last and the Machine

17:45

one. His non stop campaigning also

17:47

cost him his relationship with Scott.

17:50

But. In the course of all those

17:52

disease Harvey Milk with building his reputation.

17:59

Army was the. In a small business

18:01

may I but also an advocate. The

18:04

teacher Tom Ammiano lived in the Castro

18:06

in the nineteen seventies. He will

18:08

be doing that. Leaflets saying he had

18:10

little megaphone. This was around

18:12

the time that Harvey joined up with the

18:14

teamsters to boycott Coors Beer. After

18:17

that success, he found other ways to use

18:19

gay buying power for the good of the

18:21

community. When. Straight owned businesses

18:23

alienated they're gay customers. Harvey

18:25

made flyers calling them out.

18:28

Put. It up on the on

18:30

the telephone poles. This business

18:32

my slickers wants your money

18:34

but treat you badly. And

18:36

that did the trick. People

18:39

start going to those businesses and

18:42

then oh my God you know

18:44

the everybody came to Jesus within

18:46

like a week. And my slickers,

18:48

what was advertising for drag queens.

18:51

There. Was one moment when Harvey One

18:53

tom over forever. A

18:56

bunch of straight men had come into the Castro

18:58

and started beating up a gay guy. This.

19:00

Happens all the time. Gay bashers would show

19:02

up in the early hours of the morning

19:05

as the bar's closed and men poured onto

19:07

the street. On. This

19:09

night people tried to help the man who

19:11

was assaulted. Someone. Reported the attacked

19:13

the police but when the cops

19:15

showed up they started giving the

19:18

victim a hard time and Harvey

19:20

stepped out as a crowd. And

19:23

he took on the cops. You know what are

19:25

you doing here? Why bother him in a me

19:27

and at my heart just. Says exploded what

19:29

we do. They made a lawyer

19:32

but we have civil rights. I

19:34

think in the future that a

19:36

policemen who houses anybody gave birth

19:38

to her or whatever will thing

19:40

Tories. Of

19:42

was inspiring and I wasn't the only one

19:44

in the crowd who felt that way. Harvey

19:47

was coming into his own as a neighborhood

19:49

lead arm and a voice for De San

19:51

Franciscans. He was also

19:53

taking cues from the straight political leaders

19:55

had started coming to him for advice

19:57

and endorsements. We. Changed as.

20:00

It. Was quite astonishing And he got

20:02

a short, conservative hair card and.

20:05

Bought a couple of secondhand suits

20:07

at a thrift store a pair

20:10

wingtips. Hardy was starting to

20:12

look like a stronger political candidate, and not

20:14

just because of his new clothes. The.

20:16

First two times he tried to get elected

20:18

to the Salmon Cisco Board of Supervisors. He

20:20

was running in a city wide system. That

20:23

set up favorite candidates with more money and

20:25

a wider base of support. But.

20:27

In Nineteen Seventy six Gays and

20:30

unions work together to teams That

20:32

system. Under. The new rules: Each

20:34

supervisor would represent a smaller district

20:36

within the city. That changed

20:38

everything for Harvey. San. Francisco's

20:41

gay population was growing and it

20:43

was concentrated in his neighborhood. Nearly

20:46

thirty percent of the city's three

20:48

hundred fifty thousand registered voters are

20:50

believed to be homosexual. Gave of

20:52

it's really matter is that it's

20:55

about being safe and having friends.

20:57

If we occupy certain precincts and

20:59

large percentages, we can elect our

21:01

own and defeat our enemies. It's

21:04

about political power. Know.

21:06

That neighborhoods had more electoral power, Harvey would

21:08

have a real shot at getting on the

21:11

board of Supervisors. But. In order to

21:13

when he be the a lot of help. And.

21:15

He found some in an unlikely

21:17

place. I. Was working

21:19

at a wholesale seafood

21:21

company. That's

21:24

the Cronenberg again. In. Nineteen Seventy

21:26

Seven. She was twenty three years old.

21:28

She was passionate about gay rights and

21:31

our Honda Five Fifty motorcycle. Her office

21:33

job at a seafood wholesaler? Not so

21:35

much. I was. A pretty free

21:37

spirit at that point and here

21:40

I am and corporate culture type

21:42

thing. And was desperate to

21:44

get out. But. She never expected

21:47

that the very loud owner of Castro

21:49

Camera would be her ticket to a

21:51

new career. Harpy

21:54

gave me a call and to me

21:56

he was like oh god I knew

21:58

who he was. I. my

22:00

film to the camera shop, but

22:03

I had never talked to him and

22:06

I had no idea how he even got my

22:08

name. It turned out that

22:10

a mutual friend had recommended Ant for a job

22:12

with Harvey's campaign. I mean

22:14

Harvey was really clear on the fact he

22:16

needed to bring women in. He

22:19

knew how important it was to form

22:22

a coalition that he couldn't get

22:24

elected with just gay men. Harvey

22:27

didn't waste time. Five minutes

22:29

into their first conversation, he asked Anne

22:32

to be his campaign manager. I

22:36

was like, geez, I

22:39

don't know anything about running

22:41

campaigns. I've never run a

22:43

campaign before. And Harvey

22:45

said, well, I know everything about

22:47

them, so I'll teach you. He

22:50

said, there is one catch. I can't pay

22:53

you. Oh,

22:57

okay. Okay, well, I'll do it

22:59

anyway. Harvey

23:02

did pay Anne's rent and he fed

23:04

her breakfast. He brought sweet rolls to

23:07

Castro Camera every morning. By

23:09

the time they'd meet up at the shop, Harvey

23:11

would have been campaigning for hours. Then

23:13

they'd spend the rest of the day corralling

23:16

volunteers, knocking on doors and giving out flyers.

23:19

Harvey was relentless. I don't know how

23:21

the man had the energy he had.

23:24

He was out at the bus stops at 5.36 in

23:26

the morning and he went till midnight. Somehow,

23:34

Harvey also made time to pursue a

23:36

new boyfriend, a man in his 20s

23:38

named Jack Lira. And he

23:40

had to squeeze in fundraisers wherever he could. Harvey's

23:43

campaign budget was tiny, just $7,700, less

23:46

than one fifth of the war chest of his closest

23:50

competitor, a gay lawyer with close ties

23:53

to the Democratic Party. But

23:55

he had a talent for drawing people in, for

23:57

sensing what was important to them and them

24:00

feel seen. If the Disney

24:02

franchise, and that includes just about all

24:04

the traditional minorities, includes

24:06

the handicaps, senior citizens,

24:09

most gay people, a lot of the feminist

24:11

movement, if they would all get together, you

24:14

could change the city. If the city's priorities

24:16

would be much more sensitive to the needs

24:19

of people. We had a

24:21

lot of seniors who just loved

24:23

their little Harvey, you know. We

24:26

had this one woman who used to come

24:28

in with her cookies she'd make that,

24:30

truth be told, none of

24:32

us wanted to eat because she couldn't see very well,

24:34

and you never knew what was going

24:37

to be in those cookies, but she'd

24:39

bring them in every week for us.

24:43

It was during Harvey's 1977 run that

24:45

John Briggs announced his proposal to purge

24:47

gay teachers from California schools. Harvey

24:50

started speaking out against the initiative and raised the

24:52

stakes of his own local campaign, in

24:55

an ad that ran in a gay newspaper, he said

24:57

he could help the community take down John Briggs,

25:00

so long as he got elected to the Board of

25:02

Supervisors first. I

25:04

was a true believer from day one. I knew

25:07

we would win. It

25:10

never crossed my mind until Election

25:12

Day itself, and then I was

25:14

like, oh no, will we?

25:19

On election night, 1977,

25:21

Ann and the rest of Harvey's supporters waited for

25:23

the returns at Castro Camera. They

25:26

couldn't afford to have a party anywhere else. We

25:28

had hundreds and hundreds and

25:31

hundreds of people come crowding

25:33

into the camera shop. It

25:36

was electric. Harvey

25:38

had decided to wait for the results at City Hall, where

25:41

he could get the precinct totals right

25:43

away. And the fastest way

25:45

to get there? Harvey

25:47

hated to ride on my motorcycle. But

25:50

on this night, he made an exception. While

25:53

Ann held things down at the shop, her girlfriend

25:55

Joyce took the Honda 550. Harvey

25:58

Climbed on behind her and held a car.

26:00

The and as they roared off toward downtown.

26:03

Once it became clear that

26:05

we were in fact winning,

26:07

she brought him back on

26:09

the bike and I knew

26:11

he was coming and I

26:13

told folks and they just

26:15

surrounded him and Joyce on

26:17

the street and yanked him

26:19

off. It's one of the

26:21

best nights my the entire

26:23

life themselves to me like

26:25

New Year's Eve online. Service.

26:30

Providers upon first.

26:33

Supervisor or. Over

26:46

San Francisco Supervisor for all.

26:53

Of us. The.

26:57

Joys that we felt we had really

27:00

done it and we were gonna change

27:02

the world. We. Felt like

27:04

we could change everything. Will.

27:07

Do I thought. This

27:12

episode is brought to you by Shopify.

27:15

Do. You have a point of sale system. Do you have a

27:17

point of sale system you can trust or is it A

27:20

real pls. a real POS? You

27:23

need Shopify for retail. From accepting

27:25

payments to managing inventory, Shopify POS

27:27

has everything you need to sell

27:30

in person. Go to

27:32

shopify.com/system, all lowercase to

27:34

take your retail business

27:36

to the next level

27:39

today. That's shopify.com/ system.

27:41

At. The End of Twenty Twenty Two. A

27:43

Corruption scandals the easy to

27:45

it's core attacks. Lawmakers,

27:50

Were arrested accused of taking

27:53

breaths Qatar. A thin.

27:55

The case hit the was leaving us

27:57

with lots of us in an election

27:59

year. Ethiopian. Parliament

28:01

for. Sale and if so what

28:03

will it take for the he

28:05

is to clean up. I'm Valentina

28:07

Pop and from the financial times

28:09

this. Is untold power for

28:12

said. After

28:16

Harvey Milk groundbreaking when in

28:18

San Francisco. A. Reporter as

28:20

John Briggs for his reaction. Breaks.

28:23

Expressed surprise that Harvey had gotten

28:25

elected. Then. He told the

28:27

journalist I'd say the people.what they

28:30

deserved. His

28:33

breakthrough: The little thought the it

28:35

might have been because is gay

28:37

teacher ban had just hit a

28:40

giant unexpected snag in the fall

28:42

of Nineteen Seventy Seven. His campaign

28:44

collected more than a hundred thousand

28:46

signatures for Prop Six in just

28:48

thirty days. They. Were already one

28:50

third of the way to getting it on

28:52

the ballot for the June Nineteen Seventy Eight

28:54

primary, which they hoped would boost Briggs as

28:56

he ran for the Republican nomination for Governor.

28:59

Everything was going as planned until the

29:01

State Attorney General told them there was

29:04

a problem with their petition. Run.

29:06

Briggs John break the sun remembers

29:08

that moment. He says

29:11

oh by the way you know

29:13

where you're from A summary the

29:15

title, some easy legal box it

29:17

you read in the polling place.

29:20

He says they're an accurate. The.

29:22

Briggs campaign had copied that legal

29:25

language from the Attorney General's pressrelease,

29:27

but it turned out that release

29:29

has a typo that meant John

29:31

Briggs of Citizens were missing seven

29:33

words they were legally required to

29:36

have. And other results. Every.

29:38

Single one of those hundred

29:40

thousand signatures was invalid. And

29:43

so he throws a whole thing out. What

29:45

was your dad's reaction to that?

29:48

Will first term I overheard easier

29:50

for. Prop

29:52

six wasn't totally couplet, But.

29:54

The Briggs campaign would have to start from

29:57

zero. And. The June ballot was no

29:59

longer a. Nobody. The

30:01

first terrible news for John Briggs and

30:03

a huge break for the gaze of

30:05

California. They'd. Have more time

30:07

to plan and protest and convince

30:10

Californians that Prop Six was dangerous

30:12

and wrong. And

30:14

in the meantime they had a major

30:16

milestone to celebrate. As

30:19

political bridge go with was a little

30:21

unusual Harvey Milk on his way to

30:23

City Hall be sworn in as a

30:25

Supervisor in San Francisco at his side

30:28

is doing lover. Mill. On

30:30

Inauguration day. Harvey let a march of

30:32

his supporters all the way from the

30:34

Castro. You. Was a pioneer. one

30:36

of the first openly gay Americans to

30:38

be elected to public office. At

30:40

forty seven, he'd been active in politics

30:43

for less than five years. For anybody

30:45

else would have been a second act.

30:48

But for him it was kind of his

30:50

first. He'd. Never really found his

30:52

place or his passion before he got

30:54

into politics. Now he'd found

30:56

where he belongs. There.

30:59

Was a celebration on the steps

31:01

and city Hall Where they arrive

31:03

inside city Hall the newly elected

31:05

officials introduce their wives and husbands

31:08

and family says. When. Harvey stood

31:10

up to speak. That day he was alone.

31:13

His. Partner Jack Lire had already

31:15

gone home. In this

31:17

stays there was a law that says game

31:19

people cannot be married But there is no

31:21

law that says to human beings can I

31:23

love one another. I.

31:26

Have a love one! Unfortunately

31:28

he is. Too. Nervous to be

31:30

easier to laugh? At

31:34

the end of his speech, he

31:36

promised to make disenfranchised San Franciscans

31:38

feel heard. I. Will fight to

31:40

give those people who had once wrote

31:42

the way home so that those people

31:45

wrote back in. Burma.

31:50

Harvey. Had good company and that miss in. The.

31:53

City's new district based election system

31:55

brought a huge number of first

31:57

to the board of Supervisors. the

31:59

first avowed women's rights advocate, the first

32:02

Chinese American, the first black woman, and

32:04

Dan White, a city fireman who gave

32:06

up his job to take his seat.

32:10

Dan White was a straight white man, but

32:12

his election was the first two. He

32:14

was 31 years old, the youngest person ever

32:17

to sit on the board. A police officer

32:19

turned firefighter who had served in Vietnam. Clean

32:22

cut, respectful to his elders, and

32:24

seemingly possessed of small-town values. Old-fashioned

32:27

values that built this country. To

32:29

me, this is what society

32:31

is all about. White

32:33

had been elected by a majority

32:36

white working in middle-class district. He

32:38

won on a platform of fighting

32:40

what he called the radical social

32:43

deviates and incorrigibles in San Francisco's

32:45

cesspool of perversion. It

32:47

all sounded a lot like John Briggs. But

32:50

Dan White was an outlier. The

32:52

election had swung the Board of Supervisors

32:54

in a more progressive direction. For

32:56

Cleve Jones, it felt like a fresh start. City

32:59

Hall was no longer a symbol to

33:02

me of the establishment I had to

33:04

overturn. City Hall had

33:06

become ours. Cleve

33:09

joined Harvey Milk's office as an intern. He

33:12

worked alongside Ann Cronenberg, Harvey's

33:14

full-time aide, who was finally

33:16

getting a salary. When

33:18

dignitaries visited, they used to roll out

33:21

the red carpet, which went all

33:23

the way down the beautiful

33:25

grand staircase through the

33:28

rotunda, all the way

33:30

out the front door of City

33:32

Hall. And Harvey took every opportunity

33:34

to walk up the red steps.

33:37

And he would say, you don't

33:39

take the elevator ever. This was

33:41

to make a show of the

33:43

fact that, you know, we're queer

33:45

and we are going to prance

33:47

up and down and you are going to

33:49

know we're here. Harvey

33:52

took great pleasure in pushing the

33:54

buttons of the more moderate supervisors,

33:56

particularly Dianne Feinstein, the President of

33:58

the Board. And oh My.

34:01

God. I'm going to be in City Hall

34:03

so I somehow bears put together this cheap

34:05

suit and. Harvey said no

34:07

he wants you to wear your genes

34:09

a civilian city hall that doesn't really

34:12

some proper and I'm he said know

34:14

once you to wear tight Jesus. It's

34:17

it's her and makes Diane

34:19

nervous. As

34:24

a Supervisor Harvey, it's threw himself into

34:26

the work trying to prove to his

34:28

constituents that he was every bit the

34:30

advocate he said he'd be. He

34:33

goes into the neighborhoods of his district,

34:35

dancing for opinions on issues every night.

34:37

He was of pure populace before that

34:40

word was ruined by the far right,

34:42

he was about making sure the library

34:44

had funding. He was about getting that

34:46

intersection six. And nine in

34:48

the morning is on the bus heading for

34:51

City Hall. He wants to improve the transportation

34:53

system so he says if he didn't ride

34:55

the bus he be a pony. Harvey

34:58

had a theory about San Francisco

35:00

politics. He said whoever solves

35:02

the city's dog poop problem would

35:05

be elected mayor in a heartbeat.

35:07

He. Wasn't running on to higher office

35:09

just yet, but he didn't reduce or

35:12

pooper scooper law. He. Knew

35:14

how to engage the press, So.

35:16

The day that the and

35:18

pooper scooper ordinance passed, he

35:21

held a press conference in

35:23

Do Both Park. Unbeknownst

35:25

to the reporters, Harvey had taken his

35:27

own dog to the park that morning

35:29

and didn't stupid to, but he made

35:31

a mental note of where the dog

35:33

did it's business. So.

35:35

He he planned a press

35:38

conference around my unborn up

35:40

the deathly stepped in it.

35:45

For sound emphasize that the city

35:47

intends to enforce and you this

35:49

this had everyone who roaring with

35:51

laughter as he's shows the bottom

35:54

of his shoe and supervisor melts

35:56

words. this really is the bottom

35:58

lines. But

36:01

Harvey top priority was a different piece

36:03

of legislation. something for his base, the

36:05

gaze of San Francisco. He. Wanted

36:08

to push through a much stricter

36:10

nondiscrimination ordinance one that would protect

36:12

gay people and housing, public accommodations

36:14

and employment. With. The Briggs initiative

36:16

still on the horizon, Harvey hopes to get.

36:18

The Boards full support to. Send the

36:21

strongest possible message, Was

36:23

a gay rights ordinance him

36:25

cisco's have been focuses is

36:27

to prevent the people who

36:29

are already employs for gay

36:31

for if they want to

36:33

come out possesses be fires.

36:36

In. The End: Harvey's nondiscrimination

36:38

ordinance passed. But. It wasn't

36:40

unanimous. The. And white was the only

36:42

no vote. Supervisor White says people

36:44

are getting angry at he believes that

36:46

anger could lead to a backlash that

36:48

will wipe out all of the games

36:50

the gays have made thus far. The.

36:53

Nondiscrimination law was a done deal.

36:56

But. It wouldn't protect gay teachers if John

36:58

Briggs that his way. In. Hell,

37:00

we had more than top six to. Worry about.

37:03

With. All his newfound same, he

37:05

was getting inundated with death threats.

37:08

This. Is Harvey Milk.

37:14

Leaving. Friday, Nov. eighteen.

37:17

Not long after his election, Harvey sat

37:20

down with a tape recorder and just

37:22

started talking. Knowing that could

37:24

be assessed new the moment I'm

37:26

really time. I. Feel

37:29

It's important that some people know

37:31

my thoughts. Are

37:33

you I teased about as I told him he

37:35

was an important enough to be assassinated. Nobody's

37:39

going to kill yourself like a Doctor King

37:41

or Malcolm X. Will

37:47

be back in a minute. can't

37:57

wait for next week's episode listen to it

37:59

now Immediately unlock all episodes

38:01

of Slow Burn Gaze Against Briggs

38:04

by subscribing to Slate Plus. Your

38:06

subscription also gets you ad-free listening

38:09

across all your favorite Slate podcasts,

38:11

plus other member-exclusive content. Join

38:14

now by clicking subscribe at the top

38:16

of the Slow Burn show page on

38:18

Apple Podcasts, or visit slate.com/SlowBurnPlus

38:20

to get access wherever

38:22

you listen. By

38:28

the spring of 1978, it was

38:30

undeniable. An anti-gay wave

38:32

was sweeping the country. First,

38:36

in April, Oklahoma passed a

38:38

state law allowing school boards to fire teachers

38:40

who were out as gay. Later

38:43

that month was a vote in

38:45

St. Paul, Minnesota, where conservatives inspired

38:47

by Anita Bryant were working to

38:49

repeal the city's nondiscrimination ordinance. The

38:52

campaign was ruthless. There

38:54

was an ad in the Minneapolis newspaper that

38:57

said gay rights, sure they have

38:59

rights, they have the right to

39:01

immediate extermination. The

39:04

anti-gay side won. Voters

39:06

repealed the St. Paul ordinance by

39:08

a two-to-one margin. In

39:10

California, the man behind the Briggs

39:12

initiative was watching. John

39:14

Briggs said that Dade County, Oklahoma,

39:17

and St. Paul, Minnesota were only

39:19

preliminary battles. He called his California

39:22

campaign against homosexual teachers the main

39:24

event. Harvey

39:28

Milk was paying attention, too. What

39:31

is your feeling about the repeal

39:33

tonight in St. Paul? Well, you

39:35

know, it's not unexpected. What is

39:37

happening is five, ten years' struggle

39:39

for freedom. And

39:41

there's going to be a lot of defeats and there will

39:43

be victories. How do you think this will affect the Briggs

39:45

sport in California? Oh, I'm

39:47

sure he'll get more signatures now. You

39:50

know, you taste blood and you want more. Two

39:53

weeks later in Wichita, Kansas, there

39:55

was another vote to repeal a

39:58

nondiscrimination ordinance. I'm

40:00

the anti gay side. Won by a

40:02

margin of five to one. Thirty.

40:04

Eight other cities still have gay rights

40:06

laws, and now there is concern among

40:09

those in favor of equal rights for

40:11

homosexuals that what happened in Wichita could

40:13

happen in those cities To. Back

40:16

in San Francisco, all these votes felt

40:18

like a warning sign. Even. Before

40:20

the bad news started rolling in, Harvey

40:22

had told his intern, Cleave Jones that

40:24

he needed to get the gay community

40:26

mobilize. What? The things he

40:29

pushed me to do was

40:31

organized is street protests. With.

40:33

Each defeat that sprang cleave helps the

40:35

gaze of San Francisco signed an outlet

40:38

for their anger and fear. So

40:40

first it was St. Paul.

40:46

Was Wichita so I became

40:48

kind of well known as

40:50

leading this. Been tight marches.

40:55

Three, Five Seven Nine Lesbians or

40:57

mighty for hey Anita, you liar

40:59

will set your hair on fire.

41:02

It was at mix. That. Sustains

41:04

us a lot. Of camp

41:07

humor and. Militant

41:09

term political rhetoric. Before.

41:13

One of those marches Cleave tried to

41:16

conjure up a soaring speech that would

41:18

move the cloud. He wrote

41:20

something out on a yellow legal pad and carried

41:22

it with him to Castro and Market Street. But.

41:25

When it came time to talk, he

41:27

got flustered. And it's when

41:29

the fog and everything in the

41:31

papers would rattle is I'd lose

41:33

my place In my beautifully crafted

41:36

speech, Harvey says you need to

41:38

lose the notes. Just.

41:40

Talks. When. You're

41:42

talking to a crowd of

41:44

our people who are hurting

41:47

or angry or jubilant or

41:49

whatever your job is to

41:51

feel that energy from the

41:53

crowd and speak it. Cleave.

41:56

Took Harvey's advice and with every

41:59

march his. Our

42:02

movement is powered by

42:04

the determination of a people too

42:06

long denied. A people

42:08

seeking the freedom to

42:11

live, to work, and

42:14

to love. And

42:18

it got to the point where we didn't even have

42:20

to put out the word. There's

42:22

an election defeat and the next thing

42:24

you know there's 25, 30,000 people at

42:26

Castro and Marroquette. With

42:29

Harvey and a few other activists, Cleve had

42:32

come up with a plan to marshal those

42:34

massive crowds. We had all

42:36

witnessed the riots after Dr. King was

42:38

killed. Harvey said we're not going to

42:40

burn down our own neighborhood. When

42:43

protesters gathered at Castro and Marquette,

42:46

Cleve channeled their anger into physical

42:48

movement. We

42:51

came up with this strategy to march

42:53

them till they drop. And

42:57

we created the most

43:00

insane of a march

43:02

route you could think of. This

43:04

was not a slow procession. Tens

43:09

of thousands of pissed off

43:11

gay guys and lesbians roaring

43:14

down Market Street. After

43:16

a mile and a half, the marchers would

43:18

stop at City Hall, yell for a bit,

43:21

then continue north on Polk Street. And

43:24

by now, of course, the marches could be bigger and

43:26

bigger and bigger because there's still a whole lot of

43:28

gay people living in the Polk area. And

43:30

there's still gay bars in Polk, so out of the

43:33

bars, into the streets. And

43:38

we have 48 hills in this town and some of

43:41

them are really steep. And probably

43:43

the steepest is California Street, which is

43:45

a rather broad avenue with

43:47

cable cars on it and hapless

43:50

tourists caught in this. And we

43:53

would march them up that damn hill

43:56

to the very top and then we would do a loop around

43:59

Grace Cathedral. will separate churches day

44:01

two four six eight and

44:04

then down Powell Street the

44:06

steep hill to

44:08

Union Square and then

44:11

most people would take the trolley home. By

44:14

then everyone would be too

44:16

tired to riot. The march would end

44:19

in peace. Cleve

44:23

and his army of demonstrators were alarmed by

44:26

the rash of gay rights defeats that spring

44:28

but even with the Briggs initiative still

44:30

brewing there was reason to hope that

44:32

the anti-gay wave might peter out before

44:35

it got to California because

44:37

the next big vote on gay rights

44:39

wasn't happening in middle America. It would

44:41

be just up the west coast in Oregon

44:43

in a city with a thriving gay community.

44:47

In the 70s Eugene

44:49

became what some fondly

44:52

called the lesbian Mecca.

44:56

Harriet Merrick was a lesbian activist in Eugene.

44:58

The city was home to the University

45:00

of Oregon and known for its counterculture

45:02

and student activism. When

45:04

conservatives in Eugene started pushing to

45:06

repeal its non-discrimination ordinance it was

45:08

inevitable that a new gay rights

45:10

group would mobilize to fight back.

45:13

Harriet became one of its leaders at just 26

45:16

years old. We were all young

45:18

most of us with no experience yet. Why

45:21

did it fall to you to you know

45:23

youngsters to do this? We

45:25

had our whole lives

45:27

ahead of us. Some

45:30

people had more to lose and

45:32

the fear of losing housing, the

45:35

fear of losing family, the fear

45:37

of losing

45:39

their jobs, it was really really

45:41

strong. The gay community

45:43

in Eugene was as diverse as

45:45

anywhere. There were older

45:48

professional men, women who ran

45:50

everything as collectives, apolitical

45:52

people, radical students, conservatives, moderates, leftists,

45:54

people who didn't even know each

45:57

other existed. What was

45:59

it like? Trying to deal with all

46:01

the factions and a meeting like

46:03

see seen seconds. To

46:06

is sometimes is trying to keep people from

46:08

not like him. Poking. each

46:10

other's eyes up or something, talking.

46:12

About people coming now versus people not

46:15

coming out you know someone was a

46:17

drag queen is act on it. be

46:19

too scary for a the general population.

46:22

But the Eugene activists made it work,

46:24

drawn together by the feeling of a

46:26

shared emergency. They. Rounded up:

46:28

six hundred volunteers To defeat the

46:31

referendum. They wrote plays and performs

46:33

them. They. Sent seven hundred dollars

46:35

on, but in for people to

46:37

were around town. Thirty six hundred

46:39

dollars in today's money. Momentum.

46:43

Seem to be on their side. Until

46:45

the conservative opposition switch tactic.

46:49

Of first, the anti gay campaign in

46:51

Eugene looks a lot like the ones

46:53

in Miami St. Paul in Wichita. He.

46:56

Relied on religious rhetoric, accused gay

46:58

people of pedophilia, all the typical

47:00

smears. But. Then anti gay

47:03

leaders and ditch the Anita Bryant play.

47:05

but. The even told the need

47:07

a herself don't come to Oregon. We don't

47:09

need your help. Then they devised

47:11

a new message when they hoped would appeal

47:13

to the city as many liberals and moderate.

47:16

Instead. Of quoting the bible. They. Focus

47:19

on the text of the Eugene

47:21

Ordinance was protected gay people from

47:23

discrimination based on their identity or

47:25

conduct. That. Last part about

47:27

conduct is what they zeroed in on.

47:30

They said gay people wanted free rein

47:32

to do freaky sex stuff in public.

47:35

My God. they people are going to be

47:37

out in the streets flaunting it everywhere, are

47:39

doing other stuff right in front of your

47:42

children. That's. Another Eugene activists

47:44

speaking on a panel and Nineteen Seventy

47:46

Eight. The club

47:48

this a special privilege.

47:51

Gay. People are asking for special

47:53

privileges. They said that no other

47:55

minority in the history of United

47:57

States had ever been granted protection.

48:00

The basis of their conduct. That

48:03

argument was clearly false. People's religious

48:05

practices are protected, and that's not

48:07

an inborn trade as personal conduct,

48:09

and it's a choice. But.

48:11

The framing was smart. The. Conservatives

48:13

were saying that gay people didn't

48:15

really want a quality. They. Wanted

48:18

rights that nobody else had. I

48:20

remember being in a room a couple times is going

48:22

like. What? Special Tricyclics Update:

48:25

Talking about. Harry

48:27

it's group tried to counter that message. Between.

48:30

Door knocking and phone banking. They

48:32

contacted a full third of your

48:34

genes voters. They. Also raised more

48:36

than three times as much money as the

48:38

Anti Gay group and working as hard as

48:40

we can to reverse the national pride. And

48:43

like the original, ran for gay rights and

48:45

for the human rights of our people. On

48:48

the eve of the vote, Nobody knew what was

48:50

going to happen. Surveys. Showed

48:52

that voters were split right down the middle.

48:55

Then. Came election day. Voter.

48:57

Turnout was lighter than expected, and

49:00

predictions of a close election didn't

49:02

come through. The. Residents of

49:04

Eugene decided by or two to

49:06

one margin against protecting homosexuals from

49:09

discrimination. We. Lost to

49:11

do. With.

49:19

Harry. It's activist group had designated a

49:21

few members to give statements to the

49:23

media that night, but after the loss,

49:25

they couldn't bring themselves to do it.

49:29

When things were crossed. Of

49:31

these had put an awful lot of work to

49:33

put their lives and to. They.

49:36

Really believe that you. Genes

49:38

were fair. And they would

49:40

just rationally understand and and see

49:42

the. Great point is made. The

49:46

loss was just profound and then

49:48

it was scary. likes. Now what?

49:52

Some. People had come out as gay

49:54

specifically to campaign against the repeal. Dislike.

49:57

Him in my in danger now. My

50:00

gonna be okay. For. Harry

50:02

It! The vote was a wake up call. It.

50:05

Revealed exactly how many Eugenie and

50:07

more against her. She.

50:09

Ended up moving to a neighborhood that was friendlier

50:11

to gay people. And. Then she

50:14

waited to see if the gays in

50:16

California would win their fight and finally

50:18

halt the anti gay way. If. We.

50:21

Knew the briggs was com and now. The

50:23

thought was just com like oh my god I hope

50:25

one of them comes. Lost

50:31

cities across the country rolled back gay

50:33

rights. John Brig was on

50:35

the rebound. After his first

50:38

batch of petitions got thrown out. Briggs.

50:40

As California Defend Our Children campaign sent

50:42

the spring of Nineteen Seventy Eight,

50:44

gathering hundreds of thousands of new signatures

50:47

more than enough to get his gay

50:49

teacher ban on the ballot in November.

50:52

And. Just three weeks before the vote in

50:54

Eugene. He. Made it official. For

50:57

the day on behalf of

50:59

California defend our Children I

51:02

have file all over California

51:04

some five hundred thousand signatures

51:06

of California registered voters. The

51:09

place. On the ballot. by California law,

51:11

the campaign had to drop off its

51:13

citizens and each county individually. For.

51:15

His first stop, Briggs didn't use

51:17

his native Orange County or Sacramento

51:19

where he worked. Instead.

51:21

He came to Harvey Milk home town

51:24

the capital of Gay America essentially to

51:26

rub it in. Vivid

51:28

reason: The do so San Francisco as

51:30

the Her City fire. Yes, San Francisco

51:33

the most beautiful city and the all

51:35

of California. But it's also a moral

51:37

garbage dump of homosexuality in this country.

51:39

And that's why I came here today.

51:42

Standing. On the steps of San Francisco

51:44

City Hall. Breaks. Was already

51:46

looking ahead courting a nation wide

51:48

audience. Where we put this nice

51:51

your questions are the people of this country:

51:53

Whether or not we're going to have Homosexuals

51:55

Cgt morality in the classrooms of California. In

51:57

this country, users

51:59

and sexuality in general. No,

52:01

it's homosexuality in general. In

52:05

November 1978, the whole

52:08

country would find out if this

52:10

anti-gay message could ever be stopped.

52:13

In Eugene, conservatives had adapted their

52:15

strategy to appeal to more liberal

52:17

voters. And it seemed like if they

52:20

could win there, they could win anywhere.

52:23

An early poll suggested that the vote

52:25

in California wouldn't even be close, that

52:28

the Briggs Initiative would pass in a

52:30

landslide, a repeat of every other vote

52:32

that year. The homosexual community in this

52:34

country lately has been losing a lot

52:36

of public votes, in fact, losing all

52:39

of them. The outcome

52:41

of the November vote wouldn't just

52:43

affect California or gay teachers, it

52:46

would determine how far the anti-gay agenda

52:48

could go. When gay

52:50

people lost in Miami, St. Paul,

52:52

Wichita and Eugene, those

52:55

were citywide battles. If

52:57

the anti-gay backlash took hold in

52:59

California, the biggest and gayest

53:01

state in the country, that

53:03

would be it. Gays would lose

53:05

the war. So if

53:07

this past year is any measure, the future

53:09

looks bleak for the gay rights movement. Next

53:22

time on Slow Burn. A

53:27

fragile gay rights coalition is running

53:29

out of time and cash. And

53:31

I remember I said, well, Dale, I'm told

53:33

that lesbians can't raise money. And

53:36

she said, watch me, bitch. In

53:38

the movement's division around politics, gender

53:40

and race, all rise to the

53:43

surface. And kiss

53:45

my happy, rich, black ass.

53:58

Hey, Slow Burn listeners. Coburn team and

54:00

I have some exciting news to share with

54:03

you. Slow burn his whole thing and exclusive

54:05

taping at the Tribeca Film Festival in New

54:07

York City on thirteen. And. I want

54:09

to personally and by you to come out and. I'll

54:12

be interviewing a few special guests including

54:15

Civil Rights activists and Black Lives Matter

54:17

organizer To Re Mckesson and Eric Marcus,

54:19

the hosts of Making Gay History will

54:22

dive deeper into the season and talk

54:24

about the lasting impact of The Brakes

54:26

Initiative in the continued fight over Lgbtq

54:29

rights and schools. Plus we'll share some

54:31

behind the scenes stories and never before

54:33

aired tape from the season. It'll be

54:36

the perfect way to celebrate Pride Month,

54:38

this tune with Lgbtq stories and voices

54:40

across generations. you won't wanna miss. This.

54:43

Again that soon! thirteenth at the Tribeca Film

54:45

Festival in New York. You can get tickets

54:48

now! I tried back a film.com/slow burn or

54:50

by clicking the link and are so. Nope!

54:52

We're so excited to see their. This

55:02

Season of Slow Burn It written

55:04

and produced by me Christina Ricci

55:06

Lebron is produced by Joe Meyer,

55:08

Sophie Summer Grad and Kelly Zones

55:11

Just love the and as the

55:13

editorial Director of Slow Burn Dark

55:15

John is our executive producer Susan

55:17

Matthews to Sleep executive editor Married

55:19

Sake Of is our senior technical

55:21

director. We had engineering help from

55:23

Patrick for it and Madeline Disarm

55:25

or theme music was composed by

55:28

Alexis Club Drawdown ideally Simone as

55:30

the the cover art which features.

55:32

An image of Silvana Nova from a poster

55:34

designed by Larry Hum Sin and The Too

55:36

Much Graphic. Talking. We

55:38

had production help from Emily got

55:40

it, Camera, Moonies, Edwards and Thaddeus

55:43

More. Some. Of

55:45

the audio you heard in our show

55:47

comes courtesy of Chaos Fo and the

55:49

Gay Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society. The

55:52

recording of Harvey Milk Political Will is

55:54

from the Hormel Lgbtq I A Center

55:56

at the San Francisco Public Library. settled

55:59

Thanks to Isaac Selman at the

56:02

GLBT Historical Society, Lillian

56:04

Faderman, Rami Khalil, Fred Fijas,

56:06

Rachel Strahm, and Deb Greenspan.

56:10

And to Flaytes Evan Chung,

56:12

Madeline Ducharm, June Thomas, Brian

56:14

Louder, Katie Shepherd, Seth Brown,

56:17

Katie Raiford, Kaitlyn Schneider, Alexandra

56:19

Cole, Joshua Metcalf, Heidi Strahm-Moon,

56:21

Hilary Frye, and Alicia Montgomery,

56:24

Flaytes VP of Audio. Thanks

56:27

for listening. It's

56:35

opinion-palooza season here at Slate.

56:38

I'm Dahlia Lithwick, the host of Amicus, Slates

56:40

podcast about the courts and law and the

56:42

Supreme Court. As this Supreme

56:44

Court term hurdles towards its close,

56:47

the justices are handing down decisions that

56:49

will shape our politics and our lives

56:51

for years and decades to come. My

56:53

team and I are putting out analysis

56:55

of the biggest cases just as quickly

56:58

as we can bound to our

57:00

closets and fire up our laptops

57:02

to speak to you. From presidential

57:04

immunity to social media content regulation

57:07

to domestic abusers' gun rights, we

57:09

will be here unpacking the news

57:11

for you. Listen to Amicus

57:13

wherever you get your podcasts. Hi,

57:20

I'm Josh Levine. My

57:22

podcast, The Queen, tells the story

57:24

of Linda Taylor. She

57:26

was a con artist, a kidnapper, and

57:29

maybe even a murderer. She

57:31

was also given the title, The Welfare Queen.

57:34

And her story was used by Ronald Reagan

57:36

to justify slashing aid to the police. Now

57:39

it's time to hear her real story.

57:42

Over the course of four episodes, you'll

57:44

find out what was done to Linda Taylor, what

57:46

she did to others, and what was done in

57:49

her name. The great lesson

57:51

of this, for me, is

57:53

that people will come to their own conclusions

57:55

based on what their prejudices are. Subscribe

57:58

to The Queen on Apple Podcast. or

58:00

wherever you're listening right now.