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One of the most popular and most publicized entries in the 1977 Gay Parade in San Francisco was a series of 5 large posters with pictures of some of the most hateful figures in recent history. In the center, flanked by Josef Stalin, Adolph Hitler, the Ku Klux Klan, and Idi Amin was Anita Bryant, whose campaign "SAVE OUR CHILDREN" (from homosexuals) had succeeded in Dade County, Florida a few weeks earlier. Bryant quickly became a symbol of oppression and hatred throughout the gay community.
Larry Agriesti was the creator of this display. Below the picture, he tells how this all came to be. Thank you, Larry, for sharing this piece of our history.
Thanks for asking about the background for the "Bigots in History" entry
for the 1977 Gay Freedom Day Parade.
What happened was this: Shortly after the news broke about Anita's
victory in Florida I was sitting in the SF Opera House unable to focus
on the performance; all I could picture was what had happened to gays
when Hitler was in power and I thought if there was anyway to make a
statement about Anita it was in the context of Hitler, the KKK, and so
on. Just the pictures with her smack in the middle.
So, a couple of friends of mine (Steve Weber and Bill Smith) had some
photos blown up to poster size, pasted them on boards and sticks, got
some more friends to help carry them, and off we went.
The response from the crowds and the media was overwhelming; something I
hadn't expected or I would have shaved and worn better clothes!
We were acknowledged by a 'Cable Car' award for the parade entry which
they entitled "Bigots on Parade".
![]() This page created January 25, 1999 modified November 23, 1999 Text and Graphics © 1997 - 1999 UD Graphics San Francisco
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