Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
Vote No on A&B Pamphlet, 1980
Courtesy Whayne Herriford
In the late 1970s, the Bay Area’s Santa Clara County and City of San Jose each passed an ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and housing. Almost immediately, the “Concerned Citizens Against the Gay Rights Ordinance” called for their overturn.
In 1980, the statutes were brought before the public as Measures A&B. A “Yes” vote on A&B would keep protections for gay people in place; a “No” vote would repeal them. As evidenced by this pamphlet, the “No” campaigners launched a brutal, homophobic operation, using slogans like “Don’t Let It Spread” – “it” being homosexuality.
At the polls, local residents overwhelmingly rejected LGBTQ+ protections, and the laws were repealed.