1977 Rewind: Anita Bryant's War on Gay Rights
One Year
Slate Podcasts
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2022
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is a reprise of the first episode of our season on 1977.
Miami, 1977: Pop singer and orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryant takes a stand against a local ordinance—and becomes the leader of a national anti-gay movement. Her campaign against gay rights, and the gay community's fight against her, would change America.
One Year is produced by Josh Levin, Evan Chung, and Madeline Ducharme. Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening Ad Free on Amazon Music. |
| 0:03.5 | Hi, this is Josh Levine, the host of one year. |
| 0:07.0 | You may have heard about a new law in Florida. |
| 0:09.0 | It bans public school teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with young students. |
| 0:15.8 | Opponents have named the bill and others like it. Don't say gay laws. |
| 0:20.1 | The press secretary for Florida Governor |
| 0:21.7 | Ron DeSantis called it an anti-grooming bill. All of this reminded us of another moment in Florida, |
| 0:28.9 | something from 45 years ago. Anita Bryant's Save Our Children campaign against gay rights. |
| 0:35.1 | So today, we're reposting that episode from our one-year season on |
| 0:39.5 | 77. Here it is. Most of the time, nobody in Miami cared to watch the Dade County Commission |
| 0:48.1 | go about its business. But the public hearing on January 18, 1977, that was different. It was impossible to get a seat. |
| 0:58.1 | There were hordes of people waiting to get into the building. Ruth's shack was on the Dade County |
| 1:05.1 | Commission. Those hordes of people, they traveled from all over South Florida on chartered church buses, because |
| 1:12.2 | they were angry about a bill sheet sponsored. |
| 1:14.5 | I had a knot in my stomach and a real fear of what was coming. |
| 1:22.1 | The bill at issue was an amendment to Dade County's non-discrimination ordinance. |
| 1:32.3 | If it passed, it would shore up gay rights in Miami, though in a limited way. Homosexual acts will remain illegal and barred by law. |
| 1:37.3 | This ordinance merely says that there shall be no discrimination insofar as housing accommodation |
| 1:43.3 | and jobs are concerned by persons who have |
| 1:46.4 | homosexual preferences. |
| 1:48.7 | There were TV cameras in the hearing room, but the full meeting got taped more |
| 1:53.2 | primitively on a dictaphone voice recorder. |
... |
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