Episode Transcript
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0:01
Before we get started, a quick warning. This
0:04
episode contains descriptions of violence and gay
0:06
slurs. It may not be appropriate for
0:08
all listeners. It's
0:14
election night. Did you have any nerves?
0:16
I wanted to vomit. Nerves
0:19
doesn't even begin to cover it. On
0:21
November 7, 1978,
0:24
David Mixner was in Los Angeles at
0:26
the Beverly Hilton Hotel with thousands of
0:28
other gay activists. They'd been
0:30
working tirelessly for months, fundraising and
0:32
door knocking, all in the hope
0:34
that this night would be a
0:37
celebration, the moment they defeated John
0:39
Briggs and stopped the anti-gay backlash
0:41
that was sweeping the country. Now,
0:43
all they could do was wait for the polls to
0:45
close and the results to come in. It
0:48
was still kind of primitive back then.
0:50
We sat in a back room with
0:53
a bank of phones getting returns from
0:55
around the state. They'd
0:57
identified 10 districts as bellwethers,
0:59
conservative or progressive areas where a
1:01
swing in an unexpected direction might
1:04
help predict the broader outcome. Every
1:07
time a vote total came in, their
1:09
1970s version of Steve Kornacki would take
1:11
over. He had the central board
1:13
where we would analyze it and
1:17
decide whether that was a good sign or a bad
1:19
sign. We were always looking
1:21
for things for volunteers to do. Well,
1:25
I was so happy we had these volunteers that I could
1:27
say, you know what I really need you to
1:29
do is blow up balloons. Activist
1:32
Gwen Craig was at the headquarters of the
1:34
group she helped lead, Harvey Milk's San Franciscans
1:36
Against Prop 6. And
1:39
so the place was just festooned
1:42
with balloons and everything. And
1:44
we had a big thing of
1:46
them ready to drop if the
1:48
results were good. The
1:51
party's decorative centerpiece was a big poster
1:53
of the Statue of Liberty holding a
1:55
no-on-six sign over her groin. Someone
1:58
told a reporter that the sign was... strategically
2:00
placed to cover the jockstrap Lady Liberty
2:02
was wearing. People were just
2:04
there waiting for results and hearing them
2:07
and either getting excited
2:09
or getting nervous or whatever throughout
2:11
the night. So they had a
2:13
big blackboard, the
2:15
kind that you could move around and chalk.
2:18
Sweet, sweet, sweet. The teacher and
2:20
activist, Tom Amiano, was at the same party
2:22
as Gwen. Then they had the counties,
2:24
so you'd be there. Siskiyou County, 55
2:27
to 40 something. This
2:30
has to happen. We cannot lose. Sue
2:33
Englander was at the San Francisco headquarters
2:35
of the leftist anti-breaks group, Bacabi. It
2:39
was packed. There were television
2:41
cameras. I wouldn't say we were
2:43
fearful, but we were apprehensive.
2:46
I just did. I was on pins and needles.
2:49
This wasn't just another
2:51
campaign. This was literally a
2:53
referendum on if I had a right
2:55
to be an American. Some
2:58
of the early returns weren't looking good. And
3:01
we were very despondent. I
3:03
remember one guy started to cry. You
3:06
know, you put your whole soul into it. What
3:08
the fuck is wrong with California? The
3:12
tension was was immense. So
3:15
tense, emotional. And
3:20
then, in come L.A. And
3:24
L.A. was like two to one in our favor. Within
3:27
an hour, it was clear that we
3:29
were winning. And when we
3:31
saw that John Briggs was losing his
3:33
own district, that's when we went
3:35
out and proclaimed the victory. State
3:38
Senator John Briggs has
3:40
just completed the election.
3:44
Oh, my goodness. The place
3:47
went mad. The crowd
3:49
went crazy. Just over the
3:51
top. Over the top.
3:53
There was such jubilation. Brown
3:56
men cried. Hugging
3:58
and kissing. dancing. They
4:00
had to shut down Santa Monica Boulevard
4:02
because people were dancing in the streets.
4:05
They say happiness happens
4:08
in moments. That was
4:10
truly a happy, happy moment. At
4:12
the San Franciscans Against Prop Six party, Gwen
4:15
Craig had helped plan a victory surprise. So
4:19
what we had done was had the San
4:24
Francisco gay marching band hidden
4:27
down in the basement.
4:30
And when they called it
4:32
that we had won, they
4:34
came marching up the stairs.
4:38
Horns, drum.
4:41
It was phenomenal. And
4:43
the TV cameras, which were
4:45
all there, loved it.
4:49
Loved it. Said
4:52
one cheering celebrant, it's obvious gays have
4:55
a lot of friends in California. Barry
4:58
Peterson, CBS News, San Francisco.
5:03
Wait, so if you had lost,
5:05
the band would have just stayed down there? You
5:08
know, I thought about that later now.
5:10
What were we gonna do if we had
5:13
lost? I guess we would have just opened
5:15
the back doors and said, go go go. That
5:20
night, there was no need for a
5:23
backup plan and the parties kept growing.
5:26
We were out in the street too. You
5:29
know, we went up to Castro Street. There
5:31
was a big celebration. I
5:37
remember shouting. I remember
5:39
speeches. I mean, it was like
5:42
New Year's Eve. Buoyancy, a
5:44
fusion, and clapping, and can
5:47
you believe it? Pass the bong. I
5:53
remember a new day. A
5:56
new day. For the first
5:58
time in our lives, we Felt
6:00
like winners. What
6:02
did you do that night? Did you
6:04
go to a party or? I had sex. Victory
6:07
sex. Good
6:10
sex. This
6:14
is Slow Burn, Gaze Against Briggs. I'm
6:17
your host, Christina Kottirucci. For
6:21
gay Californians, November 7, 1978 was
6:25
a moment of triumph and validation. After
6:28
a year of fear and anxiety
6:30
and relentless hard work, they crushed
6:32
the Briggs Initiative by more than
6:34
a million votes. The
6:37
final margin was 58% to 42%, a
6:41
stunning reversal of the early polls. Gay
6:44
activists pulled off a victory that
6:46
once seemed impossible, and now
6:48
they could start dreaming bigger about what
6:50
gay life could look like in a country
6:52
that recognized their strength. But
6:57
the promise of November 7 wouldn't
6:59
last, because everyone who
7:01
spent that night celebrating their win
7:04
was about to suffer a devastating
7:06
loss. He gave everything
7:08
to the campaign, including
7:12
it turned out his life. This
7:16
is episode six, The Murders at
7:19
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