Never Again! Fight Back!
Silk screen poster. 660x571mm, 26x22Β½ inches. Too Much Graphics, San Francisco. 1978.
The Briggs Initiative, known as Proposition 6, called for gay and lesbians to be banned from working in California State public schools. Proposed by State Senator John Briggs, the referendum was resoundingly voted down on November 7th, 1978.
The idea for the conservative-driven Proposition 6 began with a vote in Florida where Anita Bryant helped squash anti-discriminatory policies in regards to hiring school teachers. California Governor Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter both opposed the bill and Harvey Milk was instrumental in helping to defeat it.
This poster was printed to help raise funds to fight the initiative. It features an image of Silvano Nova, a noted drag persona and actor in San Francisco during the 1970s. The text at the bottom reads, "The pink triangle was used to identify the thousands of gay people who died in concentration camps in Nazi Germany." The pink triangle was re-utilized 9 years after this poster was created (albeit inverted) by the Silence=Death collective, on their eponymous, iconic poster.
