We've Seen This Before

 For those of you thankfully unaware of shit, let me make your day.

FYI - the rioters were armed with guns, smoke bombs and pipes to hurt and kill the participants in Pride

The hate, anger and violence from white supremest groups towards gay folks (which I will use rather than LGBTQA+) has risen again like an incoming tide. And kids, we have been here before. Almost exactly here.

In 1977, Anita Bryant railed against a non-discrimination law in Miami Dade County. She called it "Save The Children" - familiar yes? And the ordinance was repealed by a public vote so that the lovely citizens of Miami were once again allowed to discriminate against gays - it was in place for 20 more years.

Soon after the Save Our Children law was passed in Miami, duplicate laws (taking away equality) were passed in St. Paul, Minnesota; Wichita, Kansas; and Eugene, Oregon. In 1978 a California state proposition was on the ballot to REQUIRE all state schools fire homosexuals.

This proposition lost mainly due to the work of gay activists and, hard to believe, Ronald Reagan, the CA governor that gay out strongly against it - it was more famous as the "Brigg's Amendment".

Support for the Save Our Children campaign in Miami came from some now surprising quarters. Miami's Jewish community backed the hate by 28 to 6 vote of Rabbis. Jewish service organization B'nai B'rith ran the effort to get rid of gays. The Miami's Cuban population registered thousands of Miami's Cuban community to vote to get rid of gays. 

(Oddly, this effort also stopped the US Equal Rights Amendment from passing because it would also give rights to gays.)

Let me quote from wikipedia and get the fullness of this shit out for you (and for those that think it cannot happen again).

Mike Thompson discovered in a poll taken in March 1977 that women in Dade County opposed repealing the measure two to one; they saw their gay friends as relatively harmless. Save Our Children's strategy, therefore, worked to prove that homosexuals were amoral, promiscuous, and defiant of traditional gender roles, and that they were a specific danger to children.[19] Bryant took this strategy as a crusade, delivering speeches that intoned that Dade County's passing of the ordinance "guts the law on the side of the unrighteous. If homosexuals are allowed to change the law in their favor, why not prostitutes, thieves, or murderers?"[20] She specifically connected homosexuals with child molesters, saying "Some of the stories I could tell you of child recruitment and child abuse by homosexuals would turn your stomach."[20] Bryant resented the media depiction of her as hateful, saying that her inspiration came "out of love—not only love for God's commandment and His word, but love for my children and yours. Yes, and even love for all sinners—even homosexuals."

Sounds a fuckload like what is happening now, right? "Pedophiles", "Groomers" and "She-he's" are the new words of hate and pushing of laws. And, in case you wondered, teachers are NOT explaining gay sex to children. They may stress that tolerance is important, but you can't even do that with the 5 states that have "Don't Say Gay" laws.

Now Texas is investigating families that show any support for children that might be transexual. The first victim of this was a Texan Social Worker with a transexual daughter. When she asked what this meant for her family, she was placed on leave and her family was reported to child protective services.

And the violence that happened during that time is happening again. Once again Wikipedia has more information:

Two weeks after the Dade County vote, a gardener who worked for the City of San Francisco named Robert Hillsborough was stabbed 15 times in his face and chest while his attackers chanted "Faggot" at him. Hillsborough's mother and San Francisco mayor George Moscone blamed Bryant's rhetoric for his death and 200,000 San Francisco residents joined a memorial demonstration for him. Mrs. Hillsborough brought a $5 million civil suit against Anita Bryant claiming Hillsborough's attackers said "Here's one for Anita".[54] She said, "I didn't think much about Anita Bryant's campaign at first. Now that my son's murder has happened, I think about the Bryant campaign a lot. Anyone who wants to carry on this kind of thing must be sick. My son's blood is on her hands."[55] Bryant, Green, Mike Thompson and Save Our Children were dismissed from the suit in November 1977.[56]

Several suicides were connected to the campaign, including a Cuban gay activist in Miami named Ovidio "Herbie" Ramos, who was stunned at the vehemence against homosexuals. He and several other Cuban gay activists participated in a radio call-in show to hear people say homosexuals should be deported, forced into concentration camps, or executed. Ramos shot himself a few days later after telling a friend, "I didn't know they hated us so much".[57] Another Cuban gay activist named Manolo Gomez was fired from his job and severely beaten, after which he decided to leave Miami.

The hate and attacks only receded when the AIDS epidemic ran riot and Americans suddenly understood that gays were members of their families and communities.

That lesson has been forgotten and once again we are the targets of people who think we have no right to live in this country, or to live at all.

I mean it isn't a long step from thinking someone is hurting your child, to beating and killing them. I wish I didn't have to worry, but I do.

White Supremest in Idaho arrested as they plan to disrupt an outdoor party - open to all - in the city with guns, and smoke bombs in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Well, it's been a good run. We are fucked now. 

Again.