Gay rights in the Twin Cities - Views from Florian Chmielewski and Jack Baker

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June 8, 1977
Rich Dietman - Interviewer and Reporter, Florian Chemelefski - Interviewee, Jack Baker - Interviewee
Listen: Gay rights in the Twin Cities with Senator Florian Chmielewski, DFL-Sturgeon Lake and Jack Baker
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MPR’s Rich Dietman reports on the fight over local laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination. Dietman talks Florian Chmielewski, DFL state senator of Sturgeon Lake; and Jack Baker, a Minneapolis attorney and a coordinator of the Target City Coalition.

In 1977, there were 40 American cities which had laws on their books to protect homosexuals from discrimination. Three of those cities were in Minnesota (Minneapolis. St. Paul, and Marshall). The laws were enacted by city councils and were never voted on in a general election. They were generally designed to prohibit discrimination with regard to a person's sexual preference. Opponents fought to overturn ordinance, with the help of visits from Anita Bryant and Save Our Children Incorporated group.

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