In 1978, state Sen. John Briggs put a bold proposition on the California ballot. If it passed, the Briggs Initiative would ban gays and lesbians from working in public schools—and fuel a growing backlash against LGBTQ+ people in all corners of American life.
In the ninth season of Slate’s Slow Burn, host Christina Cauterucci explores one of the most consequential civil rights battles in American history: the first-ever statewide vote on gay rights. With that fight looming, young gay activists formed a sprawling, infighting, joyous opposition; confronted the smear that they were indoctrinating kids; and came out en masse to show Briggs—and their own communities—who they really were. And when an unthinkable act of violence shocked them all, they showed the world what gay power looked like.
In Episode 2, Professor Tropiano, author of THE PRIME TIME CLOSET: A HISTORY OF GAYS AND LESBIANS ON TELEVISION (Applause Books) discusses how popular scripted television shows in the late 1970s responded to the false social myths surrounding the danger gay men and lesbian teachers posed to their students.
SLOW BURN is available on APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY, and AMAZON MUSIC: