California, Seattle, Miami (2)

Abstract

On June 7, 1977, when Anita Bryant proclaimed the overwhelming rejection of Dade County’s gay rights law as a “victory for God and decency in America,” one man in the crowd at her campaign headquarters cheered particularly loud. A few days earlier he had arrived from California to be a part of the final days of the campaign. As a Republican member of the California Senate from legendary conservative Orange County, John V. Briggs was there to watch and learn lessons he could take back to California. He was frustrated about the dominance that liberals, advocates of “gays, grass and godlessness” had over politics in California, where Democratic governor Jerry Brown and the Democrat-dominated state legislature defined the state’s political agenda. Over the last few years they had repealed the state sodomy statue, decreased the penalty for possession of marijuana, and were now seriously considering passing a state gay rights law. He saw in Miami a model for a new kind of politics that could mobilize conservative voters and elect officials who would restore America to its traditional values. As he later told a reporter, “The sexual counter revolution began in Dade County, Florida where people drew the line about how far they’re going to let the permissive society take over their lives.”¹