Protesting Discrimination.

In the 1970s homosexuals, now identifying themselves as gays and lesbians, began to demand an end to the discrimination they encountered because of their sexual orientation and activities. They achieved some public success in large, tolerant cities like New York City and San Francisco but encountered opposition in other places. In 1977 Anita Bryant, a former Miss Oklahoma and well-known singing star, led a successful effort to keep Dade County, Florida, from adopting laws to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. Bryant, the most visible member of the antigay organization Save Our Children, based much of her argument against nondiscrimination laws on religious grounds and received most of her support from other religious conservatives. While she won this war and the ordinance failed to pass, she ultimately lost her position as a spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission, which preferred not to...