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Some homosexual leaders are afraid that the excesses of the national anti-Anita campaign may cause a public backlash against the gay rights movement, and claim that this is exactly what she is seeking. "She's willingly making herself a stalking horse for the ultra-right and trying to set up homosexuals as scapegoats," contends Howard Wallace, a founder of the Coalition for Human Rights. Adds Bruce Voeller, co-executive director of the National Gay Task Force, "Gays have traditionally been the victims, not the perpetrators, of violence."
Although there clearly is a danger that they may be turning off sympathizers, militant gays are convinced that their vendetta against Bryant has helped this movement, and regard last June's defeat in Dade County as their Alamo. Since then, the homosexuals' drive for civil rights has become increasingly active and confident. There have also been sporadic acts of harassment directed against other figures whom the gays see as their current enemies.
Politically, more and more gays are coming out of the closet. In Chicago, for example, Gary Nepon, an avowed homosexual, has announced that he will be a candidate in the race for state representative from the 13th District, and last week Les Trotter told the monthly meeting of the Gay and Lesbian Coalition that he would be running for the Cook County board of commissioners. They are the first openly homosexual candidates to run for office in Chicago's history.