The Briggs Initiative: Remembering a crucial moment in gay history By The Advocate, adapted by Newsela staff on 11.07.19 Word Count 690 Level 870L Image 1. This shows initiative-author John Briggs speaking at an event. Briggs' Proposition 6 would have banned gay and lesbian teachers from working in California public schools. Photo by: AP/Sal Veder. Sal Veder/AP Photo In 1978, California lawmaker John Briggs put an initiative on the state ballot. A ballot initiative asks voters to make an important decision. If enough people support the initiative, it could become a new state law. Briggs' Proposition 6 was known as the Briggs Initiative. It would have forced any gay or lesbian teacher in California public schools to be fired. Also, any teacher who supported gay rights would be fired. Thanks to an effort by California activists, the law lost by more than a million votes. Well-known activists including Harvey Milk, Cleve Jones and Sally Miller Gearhart helped to defeat the initiative. In 2018, the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco opened an exhibit. It was called "The Briggs Initiative: A Scary Proposition." It told the story of how Briggs' proposal was defeated. Activists Came Out En Masse This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Sue Englander helped put on the event. "We can fight the forces of anti-LGBTQ discrimination," Englander said, adding that people who weren't around 40 years ago will still have a deep reaction to the story. "The differences between 1978 and today aren't as big as they may look." Indeed, there are similarities between 1978 and today. The Stonewall riots, in 1969, pushed the gay rights movement forward. The fight for gay rights made some progress in the 1970s. Gays and lesbians were getting elected to public office, or coming out and getting re-elected. Examples included Elaine Noble in Massachusetts and Harvey Milk in San Francisco. Many cities and counties were making it against the law to discriminate against LGBT people. Major cities were celebrating the LGBT community with Pride parades. The American Psychiatric Association said homosexuality is not a mental illness in 1973. This was a major blow for anti-gay activists. Even more progress has happened in the last two decades. The LGBT community won nationwide marriage rights. More anti-discrimination laws were passed. However, just as anti-LGBT forces are trying to undo civil rights progress today, homophobes tried to strip away advances in the 1970s. The Briggs Initiative was part of this trend. Anti-gay activist Anita Bryant also campaigned in Florida against a gay-rights law. While Bryant was successful, Briggs failed. One voice opposing the initiative was Ronald Reagan, who had been California's governor. When he became president in 1981, Reagan didn't build a gay-friendly record. He courted anti- LGBT religious groups and ignored the AIDS emergency. But in 1978, he publicly opposed Proposition 6. In a major Los Angeles newspaper, he wrote, "Homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles." Activists Shut Down Briggs Initiative Credit for defeating the Briggs Initiative should go to the many activists who worked against it. The effort started in the gay and lesbian community. Groups fighting for women's rights joined them. They worked together with organized labor and community groups. In a famous debate between Harvey Milk and John Briggs, Briggs lost. Most importantly, gay people came out. "We can defeat the Briggs Initiative if all the gay people come out to your family, your friends," Milk said at the time. "You will hurt them if you come out, but think of how they will hurt you if they vote for Briggs." LGBT activism changed opinions on the initiative, academic Ramy K. Khalil wrote. Opinion polls were published three months before the election. Then, 61 percent of people supported Briggs and only 31 percent opposed him. By election day, this had flipped around. More than 58 percent of people voted against the initiative. Ideas Too Extreme In Changing World Briggs made a mistake by creating an initiative that was too extreme, Khalil wrote. Other states were repealing anti-gay discrimination laws. However, Briggs wanted schools to fire LGBT teachers and allies. Thanks to the efforts of LGBT people, labor unions, feminists and other allies, This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Proposition 6 was defeated. These groups used their voices to stop anti-LGBT ideas from becoming law, he wrote. This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com..