it has been remarked upon before, it is worth emphasizing again the important role that Ronald Reagan played in the defeat of the Briggs Initiative. In 1978, John Briggs, a conservative Republican Senator from Orange County, sponsored Proposition 6 for the November ballot. Prop. 6 would have barred gays and lesbians from employment as public school teachers, and would also have led to the dismissal of those straight teachers who spoke out (even outside the classroom) in favor of gay rights.

By the late 1970s, the anti-gay rights movement (personified by former Miss America Anita Bryant) had had a number of successes around the country in passing anti-gay legislation. Using the slogan "Save Our Children", Bryant inspired the Briggs Initiative. In the summer of '78, Prop. 6 led in the polls by a comfortable margin. The nascent gay rights movement (led in California by San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk) fought desperately, but seemed headed for disaster. No prominent conservatives opposed John Briggs. None, that is, until Ronald Reagan came out publicly against Prop 6. He did so after a meeting with David Mixner (later a Clinton Administration figure) in the fall. Bill Boyarsky writes in today's LA Times:

The anti-Briggs forces badly needed to win a prominent conservative supporter to their side and, against all odds, hoped it would be Reagan. They felt that the witch-hunting aspects of the initiative would offend his respect for legal institutions, and they were aware that he and his wife, Nancy, had long associated with gays in their years in Hollywood— but they worried that it would be a difficult political position for a conservative leader hoping to run for president to take.

Reagan met with initiative opponents, studied their material and, ultimately, at the risk of offending his anti-gay supporters in the coming presidential election, wrote in his newspaper column: "I don't approve of teaching a so-called gay life style in our schools, but there is already adequate legal machinery to deal with such problems if and when they arise."

His opposition turned public opinion around, and the measure lost with 42% of the vote.

Jonathan Rauch, a well-known advocate for gay marriage, writes that Mr. Reagan single-handedly turned the tide against the measure. Reagan gave political cover to those in the "silent majority" who might have been uncomfortable with homosexuality, but who were even more uncomfortable with outright bigotry. Three weeks after the defeat of the Briggs Initiative, Harvey Milk was assassinated in San Francisco's City Hall. Thus in the same month, November 1978, the GLBT movement in America won its first great victory at the ballot box, and gained its first martyr. In the first of these, there is no denying that Ronald Reagan played a crucial part. In this, he was on the right side of justice and history.