"Tales of California" conveys the story of the burst of gay life on to the California scene during the mid to late 1970's and the fight for basic human rights during that time. The mid 1970's witnessed an explosion of closet doors as gays and lesbians came out in greater numbers than ever and gained visibility. This digital humanities project will be developed through oral histories, video vignettes and webisodes of the personal stories of those involved in this historic period. With the passage of AB 489, the Consenting Adults Bill, and the signing of the new legislation by then Governor Jerry Brown in May of 1975, the mid 1970's was an explosion of coming out and gaining visibility in the Golden State. When the San Francisco Chronicle series "Tales of the City" debuted in 1976, Northern Californians were suddenly reading gay-themed content in their daily paper. In 1977 and 1978, the gay & lesbian community fought Anita Bryant and John Briggs, culminating in a win at the ballot box defeating the Briggs Initiative. In June of 1981 Public Health officials and Physicians who received the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report read, from UCLA doctors, of a small number of Los Angeles homosexual men developing Pneumocystis carnii pneumonia.
These are the framing stories of "Tales of California."