(and later US President) Ronald Reagan moved to publicly oppose the measure. Reagan issued an informal letter of opposition to the initiative, answered reporters' questions about the initiative by saying he was against, and, a week before the election, wrote an editorial in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner opposing it. The timing of Reagan's opposition is significant because he was then preparing to run for president, a race in which he would need the support of conservatives and those moderates who were very uncomfortable with homosexual teachers. At that very moment, he was actively courting leaders from the religious right, including Jerry Falwell, who would go on to form the Moral Majority to fight out such culture war issues the following year. As Reagan biographer Lou Cannon puts it, Reagan was “well aware that there were those who wanted him to duck the issue” but nevertheless “chose to state his convictions.” Cannon reports that Reagan was “repelled by the aggressive public crusades against homosexual life styles which became a staple of right wing politics in the late 1970s.” Extensive excerpts from his informal statement were reprinted in the San Francisco Chronicle of September 24, 1978. Reagan's November 1 editorial stated, in part, “Whatever else it is, homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles. Prevailing scientific opinion is that an individual's sexuality is determined at a very early age and that a child's teachers do not really influence this.” While polls initially had showed support for the initiative leading by a large margin, it was defeated heavily following opposition by the gay community and prominent conservatives, moderates, and liberals alike. Outcome The initiative was defeated on November 7, 1978 and lost even in Briggs's own Orange County, a conservative stronghold. See also Milk Ruth Shack Proposition 22 Proposition 8 Section 28 Far-right politics in the United States Florida Parental Rights in Education Act - bill passed in 2022 that bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom up to third grade National Gay Task Force v. Board of Education, a court decision that partially struck down a law identical to the Briggs Initiative. References Bibliography Jones, Cleve, with Dawson, Jeff (2000). Stitching a Revolution: The Making of an Activist. (Includes three articles, two speeches, and a ballot argument written by Milk against the Briggs Initiative.) Milk, Harvey (2012). The Harvey Milk Interviews: In His Own Words, Vince