Today I Learned

When Moore shot at Ford with a .38 revolver, narrowly missing Ford, Sipple dove towards her and grabbed her arm;[8] [...] Initial news reports noted that Sipple was a former Marine, but did not mention that he was gay.[10] [...] two phone messages identifying Sipple as gay. One was from Reverend Ray Broshears, the head of a gay activist group called the Lavender Panthers.[12] The other was from local gay activist Harvey Milk, a friend of Sipple on whose city council campaign Sipple had worked.[12] Milk wanted to portray Sipple as a "gay hero" to help "break the stereotype of homosexuals [as] timid, weak and unheroic figures";[5][6][8] he told a friend, "It's too good an opportunity. For once we can show that gays do heroic things, not just all that caca about molesting children and hanging out in bathrooms."[11] According to historian Harold Evans, "[T]here was no invitation to the White House for Sipple, not even a commendation. Milk made a fuss about that."[13] [...] Two days after the thwarted assassination attempt, unable to reach Sipple,[12] Caen wrote of Sipple as a gay man and a friend of Harvey Milk, speculating Ford offered praise "quietly" because of Sipple's sexual orientation. Sipple was besieged by reporters, as was his family. His mother refused to speak to him.

(my main instance doesn't appear to federating atm so i reposted on this alt acc of mine. apologies if this shows up as a duplicate post)

#lgbt #lgbtq+ #us #assassination #activism #70s