References to Bryant as a synonym for bigotry and homophobia pervade popular culture generally, including on favorite gay television shows such as Will & Grace, Designing Women, and Golden Girls, among many others.

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Conclusion

When on election night in 1977, a jubilant Bryant told her supporters that homosexuals had "learned a lesson," she undoubtedly failed to realize the ironic truth of her statement. While she energized the religious right, which resulted in the foundation of the Christian Coalition and the election of Ronald Reagan to the presidency, she also brought together the gay and lesbian community as never before.

As a minister observed at Houston's Gay Pride parade in 1978, "It took Anita Bryant to bring this many of our brothers and sisters out of their closets. And after tonight, they'll never return. God works in mysterious ways."

There is something undeniably sad about the wreckage that Anita Bryant made of her successful career and apparently happy life, and perhaps even more about her continuing refusal to recognize the damage she did to others. Despite her spectacular fall, however, she reveals too little self-knowledge to be seen as a tragic figure. Still, insofar as the implosion of her career is some evidence of the country's rejection of the raw bigotry that she came to personify, the Anita Bryant story is by no means entirely negative.

Anti-discrimination statutes and ordinances have made a real difference in the lives of millions of glbtq individuals.

Since the Stonewall rebellion of 1969, queer presence in Atlanta has developed from an almost invisible enclave to one of the largest gay communities in the nation.

Boycotts, the refusal to patronize companies or institutions, have in recent decades been organized by glbtq rights advocates to protest discriminatory practices and policies.

The earliest etiologies--or theories of causation--of homosexuality date from European antiquity, but the search for a universal etiology has intensified as homosexual behavior has come under the scrutiny of science.

The centrality of gay and lesbian bars to glbtq culture has been reduced in recent years, but they continue to fulfill important functions; and, in many areas, they remain the most visible manifestation of glbtq presence.

The U.S. gay rights movement has made significant progress toward achieving equality for glbtq Americans, and in the process has become more inclusive and diverse, but much remains to be done.

Marches on Washington in support of the rights of glbtq people have been a significant part of the modern movement for equality.

The site of contentious battles for glbtq rights, Miami is home to a vibrant glbtq community; as is Key West, which has a long tradition of celebrating diversity.

One of America's most colorful cities, New Orleans boasts a rich tradition for glbtq people and is both a popular travel destination for gay men and lesbians and the home of a diverse glbtq community.

The New Right, which emerged during the last two decades of the twentieth century, combines evangelical Christian morality with a political agenda in opposition to glbtq equality.

Both parades and marches have served to render the glbtq community visible; whereas marches typically attempt to effect political change, parades and pride events affirm identity and community.

Portland, Oregon is home to a thriving and increasingly visible queer community that has provided leadership for Oregon glbtq activism since the 1960s.

San Francisco has enjoyed a reputation as a "gay mecca" since World War II.

A northwest commercial and shipping hub, Seattle has long attracted glbtq people and is now home to a vibrant glbtq community.

The Southern Baptists have become the most intolerant of the major American religious denominations, especially (but not exclusively) for their opposition to equal rights for gay men and lesbians.

Stereotypes usually include inaccurate and negative assumptions about groups, thus contributing to racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia.

Historically, glbtq teachers have faced all manner of social pressures, including open hostiliy and expectations that they hide their sexuality; now, however, teacher groups and individuals are working to improve the climate for glbtq teachers.

An important organization of the early post-Stonewall era, the Gay Activists Alliance, which flourished from 1969 to 1974, strove to give gay men and lesbians visibility in American politics.

The first American professional athlete to acknowledge his homosexuality publicly, former National Football League player David Kopay stands near the head of the short list of openly gay and lesbian elite athletes.

A sharp social critic, novelist Armistead Maupin places his gay characters within a large framework of humanity, creating a social history of San Francisco during the tumultuous decades of the 1970s and 1980s.

The poems and songs of the amazingly prolific Rod McKuen express a bittersweet, aching tenderness that has endeared him to millions of fans.

Harvey Milk, among the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States, was assassinated in San Francisco's City Hall, making him the American gay liberation movement's most visible martyr.

The aim of NAMBLA's small but determined membership has been to attack social and legal proscriptions against sexual relations between adults and pubescent or teenage boys.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), an American organization of some 460 affiliated chapters and 80,000 members, works to support glbtq people and their loved ones.

One of the major female impersonators of the 1970s and 1980s, Craig Russell was also an accomplished actor.

Charismatic performer and activist Robin Tyler has spent much of her life enmeshed in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights, from planning national marches to promoting same-sex marriage.

One of the most idiosyncratic talents to have emerged from the independent cinema over the past decade and a half, Gus Van Sant is not only matter-of-fact about his sexual orientation, but in his work he also represents homosexuality matter-of-factly.

Patricia Nell Warren is the author of significant novels about American gay culture that exemplify popular adult and young adult mainstream fiction.

A pioneer in the development of contemporary gay theater, Doric Wilson was instrumental in Off-Off-Broadway theater in New York City from the early 1960s through the 1980s.