History Of Gay Republicans Neil J. Young TMR

Neil J. Young, co-host of the Past Present podcast, discusses his recent book Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right.
Young then joins, diving right into the roots of the gay Republican movement in the Cold War-era Lavender Scare, an overwhelming attempt by US federal, state, and local governments to criminalize, surveil, and punish queer Americans, be they politicians, military, police, or just every-day citizens, leading up to a 1978 ballot initiative from the religious right in California to ban queer people from teaching in public schools that saw an overwhelming organizing effort from gay Republicans to shoot down the initiative and prove that they belong in the GOP, a belief that took root among white gay men in San Francisco, before taking off nationally. Moving forward, Young then looks to the major role played by California Governor and US President Ronald Reagan over the outset and evolution of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in pushing rhetoric and policy that sought to otherize and demonize the homosexual “lifestyle” as the root of the crisis, and helping to launch a period of severe backlash to the social progress of the 1960s, particularly among the right. After expanding on the role of the public school system, and specifically the targeting of public school teachers, in right-wing attempts to marginalize and exclude queer folks, Neil and Emma walk through some of the major parallels we see with the challenges facing queer Americans today, wrapping up with the importance of understanding the immense stakes of this moment within its historical context.