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presence of justice, asserting freedoms and rights for all Americans.4 Fambro understood that the
movement to liberate gay and transgender individuals might benefit by using some of the same
tactics and strategies that were first laid down by the civil rights movement. Fambro also saw the
two movements as interconnected and sought to marry the philosophy of nonviolence and his
gay rights activism.
Anita Bryant comes to Macon

In the 1970s, on the national level, the gay liberation movement began making significant
gains by obtaining visibility. Fambro stood at the forefront of the gay rights movement in the
Macon area by creating some semblance of a united gay community in a city where few
homosexuals made their sexual orientation known publicly or privately. For most gay or
transgender individuals, the 1970s was an era of increasing awakening and visibility, but also a
period of backlash and persecution from the emerging New Right movement. The New Right
movement led to the formation of Christian faith-based organizations such as Save Our Children,
Inc., a political coalition that promoted biblical morality within government and society. It was
established by American singer and well-known anti-gay activist Anita Bryant after Miami-Dade
County, Florida passed an ordinance that banned discrimination in housing, employment, and
public accommodation based on sexual orientation.5

In 1978, the Southside Lions Club, a Macon fraternal organization, placed a concert
advertisement in a November issue of the Macon Telegraph, which illustrated that the
organization would be sponsoring a local appearance by Bryant on December 9.6 Bryant became
famous for her anti-gay stance and launched a religious crusade against homosexuality following

4 “Johnny Fambro receives Guiding Star Award,” YouTube Video, 5:57, award speech on June 24, 2011, The Georgia Voice,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QFD1NNioOQ.
5 Joanne Mariner / FindLaw.com, "Anita Bryant's Anti-Gay Legacy," Alternet, accessed November 07, 2017,
https://www.alternet.org/story/17737/anita_bryant%27s_anti-gay_legacy.
6 Southside Lions Club of Macon, "Anita Bryant Sacred Concert Tour," advertisement, Telegraph (Macon), December 9, 1978.

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