City of Saint Francis Loses Its Own Saint HenryBob Ostertagbyline‚ Nov. 14‚ 2008EDITORS NOTE: When Beyond Chron learned of Hank Wilson's death, we wanted to get the news out quickly - so we wrote a brief item. The following more fully describes who he was: “Hank was not only the most selfless person I ever met, but that I can even imagine. Not for one moment was Hank the topic of concern in his own life. I would like for people who did not have the privilege of knowing him to know of him.” - Bernice Becker, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Sacramento native Hank Wilson arrived in San Francisco just a few years after Stonewall in the early 1970s, a young gay man in his early twenties. He got a job teaching kindergarten, and dove into political activism. Together with Tom Ammiano, who was teaching English as second language, they spearheaded the Gay Teachers Coalition (GTC), which became the focal point of the campaigns against Anita Bryant and then against the Briggs Initiative. Bryant was the pitchmeister for the Florida Citrus Commission, but best known as the first Christian homophobe with national projection, leading anti-gay legislative efforts around the country, culminating in the Briggs Initiative in California, her first and decisive defeat. These were the formative political battles of the post-Stonewall gay and lesbian community in San Francisco, and they were the battles that launched Harvey Milk and Tom Ammiano's political careers. Hank, however, was not interested in a political career. |