California Proposition 6 Briggs Initiative collection

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: Coll2011-018

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence, clippings, legislative and legal documents, pamphlets, publicity flyers, photographs, financial records, meeting minutes, event posters, petition forms, memoranda, speakers' manuals, volunteer forms, and other material documenting the campaign to defeat California Proposition 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative, in 1978. The bulk of the collection documents the activities of the three groups organized to oppose the initiative: the No on the Briggs Initiative Committee (NOBIC) and the Committe Against the Briggs Initiative/Los Angeles (CABI/LA), both based in Los Angeles, and the Bay Area Committee Against the Briggs Initiative (BACABI) based in San Francisco. The collection also includes legal papers and other material documenting the activists' lawsuits filed against the Briggs Initiative in an attempt to remove it from the November 1978 ballot.

Dates

1977-1980

Creator

Bay Area Committee Against the Briggs Initiative (Organization) (Corporate Entity)
Kight, Morris (Person)
No on the Briggs Initiative Committee (Organization) (Corporate Entity)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Biographical / Historical

Beginning in 1977, California State Senator John Briggs from Fullerton authored and introduced State Ballot Initiative 6, also known as the Briggs Initiative, for the November 1978 election. The initiative's intent was to prohibit hiring or requiring the dismissal of public school teachers and schoolworkers who "engaged in advocating, soliciting, imposing, encouraging or promoting of private or public homosexual acts." Proposition 6 was defeated in the November 1978 election with 58.4 (No) to 41.6 (Yes) percent.

Extent

5.5 Linear Feet (3 boxes, 2 cartons, and 1 flat box.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Correspondence, clippings, legislative and legal documents, pamphlets, flyers, photographs, financial records, meeting minutes, event posters, petition forms, memoranda, speakers' manuals, volunteer forms, and other material documenting the campaign to defeat California Proposition 6, introduced by State Senator John Briggs in 1978. The initiative's intent was to require the dismissal of public school teachers and schoolworkers who "engaged in advocating, soliciting, imposing, encouraging or promoting of private or public homosexual acts."

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was separated from the ONE Subject Files Collection, Coll2012-001. A portion of the collection was donated by Morris Kight. The donor and date of the remaining materials are unknown.

Related Materials

California Human Rights Advocates Records, Coll2013-035, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Coalition for Human Rights (Los Angeles) Records, Coll2011-025, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California

James Goltz and Jean Wood Ethnographic Fieldwork Research on the Committee Against the Briggs Initiative, Los Angeles Chapter, Coll2014-003, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Morris Kight Papers and Photographs, Coll2010-008, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club Records, Coll2013-006, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

New Alliance for Gay Equality (New AGE) Records, Coll2011-058, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Marc LaRocque and Loni Shibuyama, with assistance from Cooper Moll, October 2014.

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title: Finding Aid to the California Proposition 6 Briggs Initiative Collection, 1977-1980
Status: Completed
Author: Marc LaRocque and Loni Shibuyama
Description rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description: English
Script of description: Latin
Language of description note: Description is in English.
Sponsor: Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.