Anita Bryant, Bathrooms and Backlash: LADIES, STAY SAFE pt. 3
Explicit content warning
12/12/24 • 36 min
1 Listener
In the 1970s, America’s moral panic machine found its perfect scapegoat: gay and lesbian teachers. Also bathrooms. Historian Gillian Frank unravels the roots of child trafficking and "groomer" conspiracies back to Red Scare paranoia, civil rights backlash, a conservative women's movement against the Equal Rights Amendment and the pageant queen-turned-evangelical superstar Anita Bryant. In part three of the LADIES, STAY SAFE! miniseries, Cristen traces America's twisted history of how fears about “corrupting the youth” became political currency, why those panics still grip us today and whether Anita was ultimately scapegoated, too.
part 3 of 5.
(00:00) Trafficking, pedos and groomers, oh my
(02:00) Must all red strings lead back to pedo panic??
(03:16) An Age-Old Conservative Obsession
(10:47) The Gay Witch-hunt of 1977
(14:51) Save Our (white) Children
(23:11) Was Anita Bryant to blame?
(26:40) Parallels to the Present
(32:55) "I think there's a lot of hope, right?"
. . .
Inbox: [email protected]
Instagram: @conspiracyshewrote, @unladylikemedia
Website: conspiracyshewrote.com
Patreon: The Cabal
Conspiracy, She Wrote is an Unladylike Media production created, hosted and written by Cristen Conger. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the 1970s, America’s moral panic machine found its perfect scapegoat: gay and lesbian teachers. Also bathrooms. Historian Gillian Frank unravels the roots of child trafficking and "groomer" conspiracies back to Red Scare paranoia, civil rights backlash, a conservative women's movement against the Equal Rights Amendment and the pageant queen-turned-evangelical superstar Anita Bryant. In part three of the LADIES, STAY SAFE! miniseries, Cristen traces America's twisted history of how fears about “corrupting the youth” became political currency, why those panics still grip us today and whether Anita was ultimately scapegoated, too.
part 3 of 5.
(00:00) Trafficking, pedos and groomers, oh my
(02:00) Must all red strings lead back to pedo panic??
(03:16) An Age-Old Conservative Obsession
(10:47) The Gay Witch-hunt of 1977
(14:51) Save Our (white) Children
(23:11) Was Anita Bryant to blame?
(26:40) Parallels to the Present
(32:55) "I think there's a lot of hope, right?"
. . .
Inbox: [email protected]
Instagram: @conspiracyshewrote, @unladylikemedia
Website: conspiracyshewrote.com
Patreon: The Cabal
Conspiracy, She Wrote is an Unladylike Media production created, hosted and written by Cristen Conger. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
The Groomer Rumor Mill: LADIES, STAY SAFE pt. 2
How did human trafficking conspiracy theories give rise to a politicized pedo panic targeting teachers, trans kids and drag queens? Researchers Daniela Peterka-Benton and Bond Benton connect the dots between QAnon's obsession with saving the children, the 2022 revival of anti-LGBTQ "groomer" rhetoric and Disney's recurring role in American culture wars. Cristen also discovers the surprising source of childhood rumors about subliminal s-e-x in "The Lion King".
part 2 of a miniseries.
(00:00) "You see that groomer language everywhere"
(00:49) The Rise of 'Big Groomer'
(02:26) Human Trafficking Misinformation Meets QAnon
(05:05) New Slang for Old Pedo Panic
(06:40) A Brief History of the Disney Groomer Conspiracy
(09:20) Florida's "anti-grooming" bill, aka Don't Say Gay
(20:05) Who actually believes it??
(31:09) A Timeless Scare Tactic
. . .
Inbox: [email protected]
Instagram: @conspiracyshewrote, @unladylikemedia
Website: conspiracyshewrote.com
Patreon: The Cabal
Conspiracy, She Wrote is an Unladylike Media production created, hosted and written by Cristen Conger. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
Satanic Daycare Panic: LADIES, STAY SAFE pt. 4
Why were daycare centers the prime targets of the 1980s Satanic Panic, and how did it blow up into America's longest and most expensive criminal trial? Cristen unravels the anti-cult anxieties, paranoid cowboys and "communist" childcare seeded wild conspiracy theories about devil-worshipping predators invading the suburbs. But when law enforcement (aka "police Satan hunters"), social workers, and an opportunistic district attorney got involved, the hysteria intensified, landed innocent people in prison and punished a rising generation of working mothers in the process.
This is part 4 of 5 in the LADIES, STAY SAFE! miniseries.
00:00 Are YOUR children hanging out with devil worshippers??
00:15 Historical Context: 1970s Concerns
01:26 Rise of Satanic Panic in the 1980s
02:22 Early Signs and Media Influence
03:30 Cattle Mutilations and Satanic Rumors
05:49 Michelle Remembers...or does she?
07:12 Daycare Centers Under Siege
09:05 The McMartin Preschool Case Begins
11:50 Escalation and Public Hysteria
20:27 Trials, Mistrial and Tribulations
38:30 Ripple Effects
40:17 Coming Up Next
. . .
Inbox: [email protected]
Instagram: @conspiracyshewrote, @unladylikemedia
Website: conspiracyshewrote.com
Patreon: The Cabal
Conspiracy, She Wrote is an Unladylike Media production created, hosted and written by Cristen Conger. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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