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LGBTQ News & Calendar for the Bay Area
CELEBRATING FOUR DECADES (1978–2020) May 21–June 10, 2020 | http://sfbaytimes.com
ARTWORK BY @JKATZART FOR MUDPUPPY’S/PHOTO BY BETTY L. SULLIVAN
‘OUT OF THE CROWD COMES HARVEY MILK’
PHOTO BY NANCY WONG
TOM AMMIANO REMEMBERS MILK & OTHER LUMINARIES IN NEW MEMOIR See Excerpt
First San Francisco Bay Times Cover Featured Tom Ammiano, Author of New Memoir It is a little-known fact that the first cover of the San Francisco Bay Times featured former state assemblyman and San Francisco supervisor Tom Ammiano. One reason is because Ammiano had not yet held political office when the photo was taken in 1978 by renowned LGBTQ photographer Efren Convento Ramirez. Dedicated activist Ammiano, however, had already founded a gay teachers’ organization and, with Harvey Milk and Hank Wilson, founded “No on 6” against the Briggs Initiative in 1977. At the time, Ammiano was a special education teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District. The cover shows him with several students in one of his classes. Graphic artist Ken Gould replicated the photo four times, showing the gradual disappearance of Ammiano. As then Bay Times news editor Randy Alfred wrote in the accompanying story “Initiative Threatens Teachers”: “The proposed ballot measure [Briggs Initiative] would allow local school boards to fire or refuse to hire homosexual teachers or teachers who espouse civil rights for homosexuals. The law’s provisions would also apply to teacher’s aides, counselors, and school administrators.” Thanks to the work of Ammiano and dedicated others, the initiative— sponsored by Orange County state legislator John Briggs—was defeated. Ammiano was not erased from his teaching job; far from it. He retired from the SFUSD in 1990.
New ‘Tell-All’ Memoir The Briggs fight and teaching efforts are just a few of the many achievements addressed in Ammiano’s self-described “trip down the Yellow Brick Road through activism, stand-up, and politics.” Reading the newly published Kiss My Gay Ass (Bay Guardian Books, 2020) authored by Ammiano, you can take a trip down the Yellow Brick Road with him and relive through his mischievous eyes important moments of the past five decades of LGBTQ history. You will meet many other important individuals along the way, such as Milk—the focus of the featured excerpt. As Ammiano says, the book settles a few personal scores, corrects what he feels were inaccuracies in other chronicles of city history, and includes some juicy gossip, such as what happened when he met a handsome soldier on the Greyhound bus he took to San Francisco. The San Francisco Bay Times highly recommends Ammiano’s entertaining memoir for anyone hoping to learn about LGBTQ activism, San Francisco’s often bloodsport politics, and Ammiano himself, who remains a very influential member of our community and who is now mentoring and inspiring the next generation of progressive leaders. For more information and to order the memoir: https://www.kissmygayass.com/
With a focus on the infamous Brigg’s Initiative, San Francisco Bay Times’ “sampler issue” published in 1978 featured on the front page teacher Tom Ammiano with students in his classroom.
Out of the Crowd Comes Harvey Milk By Tom Ammiano
Photos by Rink
I moved to 16th and Castro in 1968. If you walked down Castro Street almost at any time then, you would probably see Harvey Milk physically going about his business either posting flyers or at work in his Castro Camera store. One of Harvey’s flyers that I saw said: “There are businesses in the Castro that you patronize that are homophobic.” Then it listed several stores—one was then called Mike’s Liquors— and urged people to stop shopping there. People did, and they lost a lot of money. Well, guess what? In a week or two the stores said, “Oh, of course we’re hiring drag queens!” They totally reversed course. It was a pure business decision. It was a brilliant, straightforward strategy. What did it take? A little flyer. I f-ing loved it. People underestimated what gay people were really thinking. They thought that we’d be all be docile and just say, “Take my money and discriminate against me. Oh well.” Harvey came to my attention by doing that. But the most significant thing he did involved standing up to the police. I always had problems with cops and how they treated everybody. In those days straight punks would come into the neighborhood, usually around 2:00 am. They would start to beat up on some poor gay guy. If you called the cops, the cops would come from Mission Station and they would just hassle the gay guy. Then they would hassle you for bothering them. Harvey Milk stood up to that crap. In the Castro, the queens poured out of the bars around 2:00 am. Of course, it’s a sidewalk culture and people don’t just disperse immediately. They stand around and talk. They’re loaded. They do a little dance then they cruise for somebody to go home with. There was a particular evening when, after the bars emptied, some straight punks pulled up, jumped out of their car, and started to wail on a gay guy. Fortunately, there were some people there who had alarm whistles on them thanks to Hank Wilson distributing them. They started whistling for help—Woot! Woot! Woot! That drew attention. We all rushed over to where the gay guy was beaten. The straight punks were gone—once the whistles went off, zoom, they left. The cops showed up. But, when they did, their interaction with the beaten-up gay guy was not positive. The cops treated him like he had done something wrong by getting beaten. They were snide to him and all that kind of s--t. Suddenly, out of the crowd comes the Jewish cavalry, Harvey Milk. He says to the cops, “What are you doing here? Don’t you understand this man needs help? What’s happening?” My heart leaped into my throat. I thought, “I really don’t like cops and I always want to stand up to them but I’m afraid I’m going to get killed if I do that.” Right then and there was almost an epiphany about who Harvey was and who he could be. There are a lot of queens who were very conservative and didn’t like to rock the boat, even over incidents of gay violence. But when it was in your face it was hard to equivocate about it. I mean, 2
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the cops were definitely out of line. When I saw Harvey stand up and call the cops out on their s--t in front of everyone I thought, there’s my hero!
named Bob Mendelsohn who was running for Supervisor against Harvey in 1973 and they were both there to ask for the group’s endorsement. Hank Wilson and I went to the meeting together.
One day there was an People were drinking cockimpromptu march about tails. It was the middle of the some anti-gay court decision day. The candidates gave that had just come down. their speeches. I remember There were a lot of antiMendelsohn as kind of a nebgay court decisions and laws San Francisco Bay Times founding editor Randy Alfred with Tom Ammiano at the Castro passing in those days, so take Theatre at the VIP Party following screening bish. He said something like, “blah blah blah.” It sounded your pick which one it was. of The Times of Harvey Milk. (2015) exactly like that. But he There were not a lot of peowanted the endorsement. It ple there, but a bunch of us was important because he were milling around Castro was straight and this was a Street wondering what to do. gay club. Someone finally said, “Let’s march down Market Street Then up comes Harvey and protest!” So, we did. We Milk. He didn’t yet have his wound up at Union Square. polished speechifying act Then, once again, there was together in these earlier races. a point where everybody was He had the sincerity, but he just kind of milling around. was more extemporaneous It feels almost like you’re San Francisco Board of Supervisors President with his speaking style. Some just waiting for someone to Tom Ammiano speaking at SF City Hall (1999) of the people in the audience take charge. Then Harvey, were drinking and laughagain, came out of the crowd. He stood up on ing at him. Hank and I were not laughing—we a little platform in Union Square and gave a were loving it. We just recognized something speech. That’s what we all wanted. We wanted very special. I remember looking over at Hank. somebody to step up. It didn’t even have to be He looked at me and our looks both were the the greatest speech in the world. Just that he same, “This is fabulous!” Even though Harvey stepped up. fumbled his words, it didn’t matter. It was what he said, not how he said it. Of course, he didn’t Harvey was a beacon for liberation. His theme get their endorsement. He was one of many would always be, “We’re not going to tolerprogressive gay candidates that did not get the ate this!” Harvey was a leader who took his endorsement of the Alice B. Toklas Club. lead from the community. He was a conduit for what the people thought and needed. That Harvey had a ponytail then, but it was tied made a big difference to us. Harvey was one back. He didn’t drink either. In BAGL they of the few community leaders who were supwere so extreme left in that way where everyportive of the gay teachers’ organizing from thing is hypercritical. They kind of trashed the outset. The other gay leaders, so to speak, Harvey. Hank and I stood up as teachers and were kind of Dianne Feinstein-allied establishwe said, “Well you know Harvey is really great ment people. They would say to me, “Don’t be on gay teachers’ issues.” We defended him. too gay. Don’t rock the boat.” I always admired Later we realized that Harvey could take care Harvey for being there for the gay teachers of himself. before it was the easy thing to do. That was the beauty of it. You didn’t have to go One time, Harvey came to one of our gay around and always defend him. You could just teacher meetings. We had a hard time findsay, “I support him.” That was a great thing. ing places to meet. Nobody would let us meet at You didn’t have to speak for him. He could their offices except the Family Service Agency speak up for himself. Harvey did have preon Gough Street. It was only a few of us regscience because he talked about transgender ulars there with one new guy from the East issues, he talked about rising housing prices, Bay. The new guy was handsome—very handand the danger of unchecked real estate specsome. Harvey came to the meeting and we all ulation. He talked about disabled people. He chatted him up. He had some good ideas then connected our struggle to other minorities that said, “Good luck!” Of course, he also hit on were disenfranchised. He talked about camthe handsome guy. They went home together. paign finance reform and police reform. That So, thank you, Harvey! This is the combinwas in the early 1970s. There is a tape of him ing of the world of politics and real life. That opining on real estate speculation gutting San cute guy—we never saw him at another meetFrancisco’s middle class and talking about how ing again. But I’m sure he never forgot that one regular people get evicted while the rich get meeting. more luxury apartments to live in. It’s amazing—he could be saying that today. I love that When Harvey was running one of his three too because it was the future. That’s where races, the Alice B. Toklas Club had its endorseI think the inspiration came from. Harvey ment meeting in an older kind of gay bar. It always thought about the future. Even though was a very stereotypical group at the meethe didn’t get to live it. ing. A lot of queens in business suits. Very white. Flocked wallpaper, gilded things. It I also thought Harvey was just brave—very was a noontime meeting. I think it was a guy brave. When you look back you realize that his
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Harvey Milk attending the Castro Street Fair (1978) held shortly before his death.
positions and his standing up took a hell of a lot of courage. I think people were inspired by that. Maybe you were a little afraid to speak out because you might lose your job. But you could like what Harvey was saying. That’s where his votes came from. That’s how the movement grew. Harvey was speaking for a movement, even though the A-gays and establishment people couldn’t see it yet. Out of the Crowd Comes Harvey Milk is an excerpt from “Kiss My Gay Ass: My trip down the Yellow Brick Road through activism, stand-up, and politics,” a new book by former California assemblymember and San Francsico supervisor Tom Ammiano. “Kiss My Gay Ass” chronicles Tom’s arrival in San Francisco on a Greyhound bus and follows his journey through the flopsweat trials of professional comedy to the halls of power at City Hall and the State Capitol. Along the way Tom stops everywhere from New Jersey to Vietnam to Hollywood. Published by Bay Guardian Books, “Kiss My Gay Ass” is available for direct mail order at www.kissmygayass.com
See the San Francisco Bay Times website ( http://sfbaytimes.com/ ) for more content, and look for our print and digital Pride issues coming soon in June!
S AN F R ANC IS C O BAY   T IM ES
M AY 21, 2020
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