Impacts of the Save Our Children

Consequences Resulting from Save Our Children

June 21, 1977 two weeks after Dade County vote, the murder of Robert Hillsborough took place in San Fransisco. He and his roommate Taylor had been out to a disco and had finished having lunch when they were stopped by a gang of young men shouting anti-gay slurs. Managing to leave they parked four blocks from their apartments when they were jumped by the young men. Taylor was badly beaten but did manage to escape however Robert couldn't escape. He was stabbed a total of 15 times by 19-year-old John Cordova while he was yelling "Faggot!" repeatedly. This could've happened anywhere and not be tied to the vote in Dada county but many witnesses told investigators that Cordova yelled "This one’s for Anita!”. Although he was the one directly responsible for Hillsborough's murder Cordova only sentenced to 10 years in jail. Hillsborough's parents sued Anita Bryant stating that her public comments constituted “a campaign of hate, bigotry, ignorance, fear, intimidation and prejudice” against their son and other homosexuals. Their case was dropped due to Bryant being in Florida and not in California. Because Hillsborough was employed as a city gardener, Mayor George Moscone followed longstanding practice and ordered flags at City Hall and other city properties to be lowered to half-mast
















Along with the murder there were also several suicides connected to Save Our Children. There were many devastating events that took place but had it not been for Anitas despicable views on homosexuals the LGBT movement wouldn't have grown as it did after the Vote. The overturn of the protection gay people in Dade county led to outrage in many states and but also gathered support from others as well. Anita herself during one of her very sparse appearances had the KKK who showed up to "protect" her. In California there was a bill proposed that would allow the dismissal or prevention on employement of those who identified as gay. California state senator John Briggs, from Fullerton was in the crowd with Anita Bryant the night she and Save Our Children won the Dade County vote and he wanted Prop 6 which would also allow dismissal to those who supported people of the LGBT community because it was written so broad. Former governor Ronald Reagan voiced his opinion, saying "Prop. 6 is not needed to protect our children. We have that legal protection now. It could be very costly to implement and has the potential for causing undue harm to people."Reagan's statement turned public opinion against the proposition almost overnight. Gay activists were not optimistic in light of the record of voter turnout against them in the previous year, but they were overwhelmed to learn that on election day more than a million voters turned out to strike down the proposition.

Prop 6 ad


http://www.back2stonewall.com/2016/06/brutal-murder-of-robert-hillsborough.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_Our_Children
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Bryant