Billy Sipple, Hero

b. November 20, 1941
d. February 2, 1989

My sexual orientation has nothing at all to do with saving the President's life, just as the color of my eyes or my race has nothing to do with what happened in front of the St. Francis Hotel.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Oliver "Billy" Sipple served in the United States Marines in Vietnam. A piece of shrapnel left him disabled. While living in San Francisco on disability pay, he became active in local causes, including the campaign of Harvey Milk, an openly gay candidate for San Francisco city supervisor.

On September 22, 1975, Sipple was standing among a group of people waiting to see President Gerald Ford as he exited the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. As President Ford emerged, Sipple noticed the woman standing next to him raise a .38-caliber pistol at the President. Instinctively, Sipple lunged at the woman, deflecting her aim as she fired the pistol. The bullet missed the President by five feet. Police arrested the woman, Sara Jane Moore, who received a life sentence for the assassination attempt.

Following the incident, Sipple shied away from media attention. However, gay activists in San Francisco cited Sipple's actions as a positive example for the movement. Harvey Milk said about Sipple, "For once we can show that gays do heroic things."

Legendary San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote about Sipple, including his sexual orientation. Several newspapers across the country picked up the story, and the news reached his Michigan-based family, who were unaware of Sipple's orientation.

The family became estranged for a period of time. Feeling wronged by the media, Sipple filed suit against the newspapers that outed him. The case was ultimately dismissed. Sipple's experience remains an ethical debate in law and journalism schools.

Sipple became reclusive and his health worsened. He died from pneumonia in 1989. Among the personal items collected from his apartment was a framed letter hanging on the wall, which read: "I want you to know how much I appreciated your selfless actions last Monday," signed, "Jerry Ford."

Bibliography

• “Billy Sipple (1941-1989).” Lambda. June 29, 2007
• Levinson, Sanford. "Public Lives and the Limits of Privacy." Political Science and Politics, 21.2. Spring, 1988

Harvey Milk, Secular Gay Saint and Modern Martyr

In California, today is officially recognised as "Harvey Milk Day". The reasons for this secular honour are well-known, and recorded in several books and notable movies.  In 1977, he became the first openly gay man elected to public office as a gay man, but served for only a short term before he was assassinated on  Nov. 27, 1978. Even in that brief term of office, he made his mark with his contribution to San Francisco's landmark Gay Rights Ordinance, and to the defeat of the Briggs initiative, which would have required California school districts to fire openly gay and lesbian teachers, but was defeated in the November election shortly before Milk's assassination. Rather than rehashing the bare facts of Harvey Milk's life and career, which can be read elsewhere, I want to reflect a little on the symbolism and lessons that these have acquired, three decades later.