KTLA News: "March to protest the Brigg Initiative" (1978)

[Street noise, low voices] [Passersby exchange Hellos and Hi's with protesters] [Protester Frank Vale] What we're telling them is first of all it's totally unnecessary. [Vale] That the job of a teacher is to give the student the best education possible. [Vale] And that a teacher's sexuality has nothing whatsoever to do with their either being a good or a bad teacher. [Vale] We're saying that it's going to cost too damn much. [Vale] Ah, the cost figure is estimated about a hundred and seventy five million dollars. This at a time when taxpayers are already in revolt with Proposition 13. [Vale] And we're saying that it's also a violation of the First Amendment rights of non gays. [Vale] Because if the non gay teacher were to say that, [Vale] "I think homosexuals deserve civil rights as everyone else does," that teacher could be fired and we think that's a violation of their rights. [Street noise, protesters converse] [Vale] They can't handle love. They can handle race. [Traffic, street noise] [Protesters converse with passersby] [Street, traffic noise, protesters converse] [KTLA Reporter Stan Chambers] What do you hope to accomplish by this walk? [Vale] Letting people know the truth about the Briggs Initiative. [Vale] It's been surprisingly good. [Vale] I'd say it runs almost nine to one on our side. Very often people will come up to talk to us, simply because of the walk. [Vale] Ah, they'll say that we disagree and we can get a conversation going on a one to one basis. [Vale] Ah, we've had some really interesting reactions. In one case we was climbing a hill in Escondido. [Vale] Construction workers working on it, was giving them flyers. One of them said, "I saw you on TV yesterday, but I don't agree with you." [Vale] And I said that's fine. I started to walk away. He said, "But I admire your courage." And I asked if he admired it enough to vote against the Briggs initiative. [Vale] He said no. I got about 10 feet away. He called me back. [Vale] He said, "But how about if I don't vote for it?" [Vale] And that's the kind of reaction that we've been getting. When people realize that we're human beings like everyone else and they can relate to us. [Chambers] Where do you go from here? [Vale] We're heading up toward the valley then we're swinging inside to the San Joaquin Valley. [Vale] We feel that this is the area where gay people are perhaps the least best understood. And again relating to people on a one-to-one basis. [Chambers] How do you maintain yourself on a daily schedule. What kind of support do you have? What kind of gear do you carry? [Vale] I'll carry a backpack with most of the necessary essentials. [Vale] We also have two support vehicles. One of them is usually in town ahead of us. That's with Stephanie Allen, [Vale] who's acting as an advance person letting the press know we're coming. [Vale] Letting whatever contact persons we have in the next town know that we're coming. And there's a Winnebago trailer that goes along with us also. [Vale] If we don't have contact people to spend a night with, we can indeed camp out at a campground in the Winnebago. [Chambers] You ever get any critical comments as you go along. [Vale] Ah, yes, we have. Ah. [Vale] You have to expect that there are people who don't understand things. [Vale] We've been called faggots, queers. In San Diego we had a group who waved a lead pipe at us. [Vale] And my reaction was to say. Thank you for your opinion. I love you. And they left. [Camera start up noise] [Street noise, Chambers and Vale converse] [Vale] Ah, you couldn't tell it was a dog. Ah, the fur was all ripped off of one side. [Vale] And, ah, she sort of became our mascot. We named her Ms. Miles. [Chambers] She's going, walking, doing the walk with you? [Vale] She's walking with us. Joining us. And, ah, she's been a love. [Chambers] How did you, [Street, traffic noise, protesters converse] [Street, traffic noise] [Street, traffic noise, protesters converse] [Bearded Protester] Well. A lot of people don't realize what it means to a lot of people. [Vale] Ah, it means a lot to have all of you here. [Vale] It's time to get off your asses. [Street, traffic noise] [Street, traffic noise] [Chambers] Frank Vale's walk is due to end September 13th at the Oregon border. [Chambers] At some twelve hundred and three miles from the point at the Mexican line, where it all began. [Chambers] Stan Chambers, Channel Five NewsWatch, reporting from Hollywood. [Street, traffic noise] [Chambers] All right.