rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (11/20/84)
While Ronald Reagan was governor of California (1967-1974), state
assemblyperson Willie Brown repeatedly submitted a bill "to strike
down an 1872 law prescribing felony penalties for `crimes against
nature'" [1]. The bill was repeatedly defeated in the state legis-
lature, but Reagan indicated he would veto the bill if it ever
passed!
In 1967 Reagan actually signed into law an abortion bill (which he
later said he regretted). This suggests that Reagan's past libe-
ralism didn't exclude homophobia.
Reagan thus consistently supported the criminalization of homosex-
ual acts throughout his gubernatorial term. It's hard to imagine
a more severe form of official homophobia than this, short of
bloody gov't repression.
[1] Randy Shilts, THE MAYOR OF CASTRO STREET (St. Martins, 1983),
p. 105.