Rob Frydlewicz: Orange Juice Queen Puts the Squeeze on Gay Rights, June 7, 1977

Eight years had passed since the Stonewall Riot ignited the gay liberation movement but that initial surge of empowerment had dissipated somewhat by the mid-70's. Then a former beauty queen got our attention as she tried to thwart our early progress.

Anita Bryant made her name as a singer of easy listening music; Paper Roses was her big hit and she even sang the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in 1969. She was also the spokesperson for the Florida Orange Growers Association and appeared in its popular TV commercials.

In 1977 she spearheaded a voter referendum that was successful in repealing a recently enacted law that protected gay residents of Dade County from housing and job discrimination. The contentious election, which took place on June 7, 1977, received national attention because of the passions it sparked on both sides.

I was 20 years old at the time and in the very early stages of coming out. I remember sitting on the front porch of my parents' home in Pittsburgh reading Time Magazine when I came across an article about the election. I'll never forget the following passage because of Bryant's explicit description of gay sex: "God does not like homosexuals because the male homosexual eats another man's sperm. Sperm is the most concentrated form of blood. The homosexual is eating life".

Although the referendum defeat was a blow to gay rights it was the first time gays actively fought to keep their rights. And the following year, led by Harvey Milk, gays in California successfully fought back the Briggs Initiative, a proposed law that would have banned gay men and lesbians from being teachers in the state.

For more posts like this, Rob also writes a blog called ZeitGAYst.