Whoa there Rick. Things were a WHOLE lot different in 1978. I absolutely agree that the Prop 6 and Prop 8 battles were remarkably similar and as I said (somewhere) the gay community desperately needs a leader.
The politicians who are openly gay are hardly leaders. Harvey Milk was. A HUGE part of his campaigns had to do with coming out. His argument was that once people know someone who is gay, they are less likely to discriminate.
Lots of people are out now.
In the decades since, things have shifted remarkably. The levels of acceptance are something I thought I would never see. Remember there were no gay people on TV or in the movies (and if they were, they were evil or suicidal - check out Vito Russo's book "The Celluloid Closet" sometime)
The gay movement that existed in 1978 does not exist anymore. I would argue though, that it was the beginning of the level of acceptance that we enjoy today.
We were dealt a couple vicious blows right in a row. Harvey was assassinated and shortly thereafter the AIDS crisis began. The gay community has been shattered and reassembled many times since then. In the late 80's and early 90's, we actually had a few leaders. Cleve Jones started the Names project. Larry Kramer wrote "Faggots", Randy Shilts wrote "And The Band Played On". We had several high profile advocacy groups like ACT-UP and Queer Nation and it didn't seem like a day went by where there wasn't a protest (here anyway).
I think you're right. The gay community should get some of the blame, the "No" on 8 ads were terrible. A level of complacency has (had?) set in. Perhaps you're right that we should have embraced and hammered the Gay Rights rather than focusing on Human Rights, but I think the idea was to make it more about fairness. No on 8 counted on a level of acceptance (that really didn't exist in '78) and probably a normal voter turnout. I don't know anyone who didn't question the ads they were running at the time. No one found them effective at all. The other side was using children and fear. I don't know if combatting that with gay rights would have worked either. I just don't know.
I really don't understand you blaming the older gay activists for not teaching the younger gays their history. There are busloads of books and documentaries out there. No one taught me about the history of the community, I sought it out and didn't have a hard time finding it either. Suddenly, unlike when I was a kid scouring Mom and Dad's copy of "everything you always wanted to know about sex" to find the one paragraph mentioning homosexuals, there was a new book nearly every day. "After The Ball", "Another Mother Tongue", "Stonewall", "Beyond Queer", the Randy Shilts books. There was a resurgence of interest in gay classics like "Giovanni's Room", Rubyfruit Jungle", "Death In Venice" and "A Single Man". "The Times Of Harvey Milk" won the Academy Award for best documentary. Gay films were coming out that were not all about our "seedy lifestyle"... that's why "Basic Instinct" was such a big deal, if you watch that movie, every single lesbian in the film has killed someone. It was a throwback to a representation we thought we were finally getting past.
I absolutely agree that I didn't see Carole Migden out there, I didn't see Tom Ammiano or Mark Leno out there... and I got a little pissed at the Join The Impact rally when they all spoke loudly and angrily about the passage of Prop 8. I think I even muttered "where were you before this?" Ironically, the politicians who DID speak out, were all straight. Gavin Newsom, Diane Fienstien - hell even Arnold "The Terminator" said it was wrong! I don't know whose idea it was to use only straight politicians in the ads, but that was as wrongheaded as the rest of the campaign.
There were some notable differences between 6 and 8. It was believed from the very beginning that Prop 6 would pass. That made the fight so much more vital and intense. With Prop 8, people were saying all along that it wouldn't pass. "Didn't stand a chance in California". "Who would vote to take away rights?" There was also a landmark presidential election going on. People who had NEVER punched a ballot before were registering in droves. Also, like I said before there was no 'face' on either side. With Prop 6, there was John Briggs (and Anita Bryant) on one side and there was Harvey and the gay community on the other. Who did we have for Prop 8? Who would we get to even sit down to a debate? On either side? We had the People For The Elimination of Gay Rights and The Church of Gays Should Never Get What We Have (not their real names) and... Gavin Newsom (?)on the other.
One thing I do know is that we should absolutely stay angry. Being quiet and expecting other people to do the right thing got us into this mess. Perhaps one good thing will come from this and a new leader will emerge. So far, not so good.
