California Voters Reject Ban on Lesbians, Gays Teaching in Public Schools
California voters on this day rejected a referendum (the “Briggs Initiative”) that would have barred lesbians and gays from teaching in the public schools.
The vote margin was a surprising two to one against the proposal, indicating that there was far more support for lesbian and gay rights than political observers had suspected.
Interestingly, Ronald Reagan, former California governor and future president of the U.S., actively opposed the Briggs Initiative. As president, however, Reagan was beholden to the Religious Right, and did not support lesbian and gay rights for several years, finally breaking his silence on September 17, 1985. He also did not support federal programs related to the HIV/AIDS crisis.
View a timeline on lesbian and gay rights: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html
Read about the history of the GLBT revolution: Lillian Faderman, The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle (2015)
Learn more: Dudley Clendinen and Adam Nagourney, Out For Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America (1999)
Learn more about Reagan and the Briggs Initiative from the Log Cabin Republicans: http://www.logcabin.org/about-us/our-history/