When the Briggs Initiative to prevent gays and lesbians from working in California public schools made the ballot in 1978, San Francisco activist Amber Hollibaugh could quickly see what was needed to defeat it.
It needed someone with a working-class background who was brave enough to go out into the conservative strongholds of the Central Valley and explain that the Briggs Initiative was not just an attack on schoolteachers who happened to be gay, but also an attack on labor.
Hollibaugh was that person, having grown up hardscrabble in Bakersfield. She was also fearless, going into Teamster meetings and union halls to explain that the measure wasn’t just about gay men, but also about women. In many cases Hollibaugh was the first lesbian the male truck drivers had ever knowingly met, according to campaign documents held at the San Francisco History Center.
“Amber was a firebrand who came from a poor family, but she was so eloquent,” recalled well-known activist Cleve Jones, who rode a bus to Fresno with Hollibaugh during the campaign. “She was very charismatic and very articulate, and though not college educated, she had read everything. She was very good at explaining to people that the Briggs Initiative was against working-class people.” […]
Click here to read the full piece. This story was originally published by San Francisco Chronicle on November 23, 2023.
