The Case of Antigay Politics

Between 1977 and 1986 there occurred a sweeping assault upon gays and their culture. Sadly, the left failed to respond to this offensive. This was not an episodic lapse but an abiding failure of the left to take homosexual politics and oppression seriously.

By the late 1970s an organized antigay backlash was in motion, spearheaded initially from the New Right. Anita Bryant’s “Save Our Children” (SOC) campaign in Dade County, Florida, sparked a wave of antigay actions. Backed by fundamentalist religious groups SOC portrayed homosexuals as a threat to children, the family, and national security, violating the laws of God, Nature, and Society. In 1977, the SOC campaign succeeded in repealing a local gay rights ordin...