Harvey Milk, Anita Bryant, and religion

I was in my 30's when Anita Bryant was running around the country spewing her hateful ideas. I remember thinking what a sickening excuse for a human being she was. Now we have the right wing nutcases giving us their interpretation of the Bible and God's will no less. I'm not a big Obama guy (McCain picking Palin made it easier to vote for Obama) but at least now that he won, the religious right won't exercise quite the empowerment to which they always feel so entitled. Gay pride parades may be stupid and a bit too in-your-face arrogant, but ensuring gays basic rights has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with a fair and civil society.

Obama does not support gay marriage, so I think you're out of luck on that one, Bob.

Clarification: Obama does not support constitutional discrimination and did not support Prop 8 (even if his "religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."), so I think you're out of luck on that one, Kim.

Just like being born left handed or with dark skin, some people are born gay. Treating gay people different in your state or federal constitution is discrimination, and Obama sees it as such and will repeal the federal discrimination if possible.

Kim, if you want to know what Obama supports, go to www.change.gov. His civil rights agenda includes broad support for the LGBT community including civil unions at the national level and throwing out the Defense of Marriage Act. Keep in mind, gays and lesbians aren't asking for religious rights (holy matrimony), we're demanding civil rights (civil marriage).

Anyone who cant see that Obama is "against gay marriage" only because he needed moderates-rights to win the election is completely blind or ignorant to the political process. Now, whether Obama should be respected or not for taking this strategy is another story. But to say that the pro-gay marriage stance was not improved by the election of Obama is crazy.

Obama is a product of Harvard Law, is lovingly described as "the best and brightest student I ever taught" by Lawrence Tribe, is proud of his record as a community organizer and civil rights attorney, yet supports creating separate but equal civil unions for Gay couples while preserving 'marriage' as between a man and a woman. Anyone that dismisses what politicians do and say to win the support of opponents forgets that politicians lie, it's the only thing we can expect them to do. Bill Clinton talked about ending discrimination and signed DOMA and instituted the Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy. What will the President Elect be willing to yield to maintain the 6% margin with which he won the popular vote?

I was around during Anita Bryant's Save the Children campaign too, and since I had not yet returned to Christianity, I only thought her kind of silly to be so worried about a tiny and harmless minority. She was not an evil woman, she was only doing what she felt was right based on what the majority thought about homosexuals at the time. In 1978, homosexuality had only been removed from the mental illness list for five years, and many of us still believed it that it was. There were mass murderers like Juana Corona and John Wayne Gacey that were believed to have done so to cover up for their homosexuality impulses.

Harvey Milk ws a hero, and Anita Bryan was a biased scared individual. I was a teenager during the time of Milk, but i have recently become fascinated with this story. A great book on this is "The Mayor of Castro Street " by Randy Shilts.

I am not gay, but I am disabled and what Harvey spoke for was inclusion for all of us. May his spirit live on.

I'm Spanish and I think that it's great that gays and lesbians can get merried and can adopt children in my country, at last. I'm hetersosexual and I think that nobody should be discriminated based on sexual orientation or based on any other personal difference. I'd like that in the States gays and lesbians had the same right. I was sad when proposition 8 was passed in California. Yesterday I saw the film "My name is Harvey Milk" and it's really marvelous. I will always admire people who fight for civil rights. Thank you Harvey Milk!

I saw the movie last night and I would have to include more to the plot description. The movie also attempts to chronicle Milk's love life during his years in San Francisco. It shows deep kissing between men. I am not to judge this, but in all honesty it makes me mildly sick. And I suspect I'm not alone. So if you haven't seen it yet and want to know if it shows male homosexual activity. The answer is 'yes'. As I'm sure you already know you're free to use this information as you wish.

I know what you mean, Josh. I saw Revolutionary Road, and that had deep kissing between a man and a woman. I got mildly sick also. But then again, I have to witness that almost every day, so I'm a bit more immune to the mild sickness. In all honesty.

I thought Anita Bryant was dead in hell?

Chris, the reason for my post was that I was not expecting those scenes. Who can blame me? For most of the time I've been watching mainstream movies, even ones with gay themes, I didn't see deep kissing between men. The message to me now is loud and clear: don't be surprised by such scenes in future films. But it's an adjusment for me and, I believe, a lot of other people. Again, I suspect I'm not alone. And let me see if I understand: you're immune to mild sickness from seeing straight kissing almost every day, but Revolutionary Road made you mildly sick. Honestly?

My name is Angelo and I am from Barcelona, Spain. I lived in San Francisco for two years and I am very sad that proposition 8 was passed. In my country gay people can marry and adopt like in other European States. I am proud to be part of a country and culture where civil rights have more power than any religion. I hope that Obama, who belongs to a race that have been put down through decades of discrimination, racism, assesinations and hate as gay people still do, will help to make of the country who is expected to set an example, a place where gay civil rights are recognise and gays have the freedom America is so proud to promote.

is anita dead or alive if so what is she up to now and how old would she be?

Google image the horrible woman, and you'll find she looks like an older Sarah Palin. Gross.

You think Sarah Palin looks bad now? I don't. I can brush aside the fact she thinks her proximity to Russia gives her credibility on foreign policy. I still find her attractive. I thought Anita Bryant looked pretty good in the movie.

I just saw the film MILK, and decided to do a bit of research. Bryant is alive, if living in Oklahoma is living (Sorry Oklahomans). She's 68, and fronting something called The Anita Bryant Ministries. She's divorced and re-married...good Christian woman that she is....and has gone bankrupt three times, trying to get back to her "glory" days. There is some evidence that her anti-gay spewing is starting again.
One of the sites I read indicated that one of her sons might be Gay, btw.
Poetic justice, I'd say.

I thought Sean Penn was terrific in Milk. I was a paramedic working the East Bay from 1978-80 and lived the trauma of the assassination of the mayor and supervisor Milk. When I saw MILK I was propelled back to that time. I remember the fear and intimidation, out right lies, misunderstanding and hatred perpetrated by seemingly normal people toward gays and lesbians. And it was not Christian in any sense of the definition I learned growing up. It was and is down right hypocrisy and ignorance perpetuated by these hateful pseudo Christians that I blame for indoctrinating people like Anita Bryant.
A formal education is a fundamentalist Christian's worst nightmare. No, I don't mean those second rate Christian Universities who use pseudoscience to advance their own self serving personal agendas. I mean real education based in empiric science and advancing technologies. I firmly believe homosexuality is an innate trait variable and not some conscious decision. . Yet among fundamentalists, this concept alone is threatening because they fear that if true they might have to rewrite their own religious ideology. I do feel sorry of Anita Bryant but not for what she did. But I can understand how it happened for her. Imagine you got taught about Jesus bathed in ignorance and fear and with no education. Here is my point. It was downright ignorance fueled by fear and hatred that destroyed Anita Bryant. Most every religion has components of hate. Most of this hate is perpetrated by ignorance and disguised as “love”. Empirically based education can mitigate ignorance. If Anita Bryant had gotten such an education, (hell, if she had only taken a college level class in Western Religions) she would not have ruined her career, could have kept her personal beliefs and still be a venerated icon from the 1950's. And that makes me very sad.
An objective education empowers and motivates understanding. The pain, suffering, hatred and deaths she incited should cause her to reflect on her own religious beliefs and salvation. Was she working to promote Jesus or the great deceiver...Satan?
I really enjoyed MILK but have been left haunted as well.

I just watched Harvey Milk. I feel sad that people are so ignorant and so quick to judge. God loves all his children.

Anita Bryant is not a Christian, she is the "disclosed evil" that she always talked about. I faintly remember as a child her ignorance and now that I watch this movie, I wonder how she didnt get shot herself. God forgive us for the way we treat each other.