rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (10/02/84)
On PBS' "All Things Considered" today (10/1/84): A lawsuit seeking to overturn an Oklahoma law which allows local school boards to dismiss any teacher "advocating homosexuality" will be heard by the Supreme Court (of the US). The law sounds like a clone of the infamous Briggs Initiative which was voted down in California in 1977 or 1978. The initiative let localities fire teachers who "advocated homosexual lifestyles"; neither "advocacy", "homosexual", nor "lifestyles" were defined in the initiative, which was introduced by one John Briggs (R -- Fullerton, a burg in Orange Cty.), an incredible nerd. There's an anecdote about Briggs' fatuity. He and then-local gay reporter Randy Shilts were standing side-by-side on the steps of the legislature in Sacramento, waiting for a brief press con- ference. Briggs had engaged Shilts in conversation, not knowing who he was, said he liked him, a "regular guy", unlike much of the press, and warming up, confided to Shilts while looking him straight in the eye: "You know, Randy, I can tell gays just by looking them in the eye", and went on to discuss his "method" & its successes at length. The initiative was voted down by a sizable margin, something like from 58% to 62% against it. Keep on chargin' Ron Rizzo