"And to the bigots, to the John Briggs, to the Anita Bryants, to the Kevin Starrs and all their ilk... Let me remind you what America is... listen carefully. On the Statue of Liberty, it says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free...” In the Declaration of Independence it is written, “All men are created equal and they are endowed with certain inalienable rights...” And in our National Anthem it says: “Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free.” For Mr. Briggs and Mrs. Green and Mr. Starr and all the bigots out there: that’s what America is. No matter how hard you try, you cannot erase those words from the Declaration of Independence. No matter how hard you try, you cannot chip those words from off the base of the Statue of Liberty. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot sing the “Star Spangled Banner” without those words. That’s what America is. Love it or leave it."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Baptists from the United StatesSingers from the United StatesWomen singersGospel singersWomen activists from the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Harvey Milk in his "That's What America Is" speech on 25 June 1978, as quoted by Liz Tracey, Milk’s Gay Freedom Day Speech: Annotated, JSTOR, 13 June 2022
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anita_Bryant
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Anita Bryant
76 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Anita Bryant →
Related Quotes
"If homosexuals are allowed to change the law in their favor, why not prostitutes, thieves, or murderers? [...] Some o…"
"Those girls who give themselves to the man they love before marriage really succeed in cheating themselves. I know an…"
"I'm convinced that when you turn your business over to God entirely, He not only will send you exactly the type work …"
"For years, as I've said, Bob has worked hard for our family's sake to cut traveling to a minimum. But there are some …"
"The last three tours abroad with Bob Hope took my husband and I to Viet Nam. There was distinct danger those times, a…"
"I stood only three feet before my audience. As we began the "Battle Hymn," I sang with great concentration, my eyes h…"
"President Lyndon B. Johnson reminded me of my dad. Genial, full of homespun humor and stories about Texas, he is real…"
"People, get ready! If you are racist, sexist, classist, or homophobic, my child is going to think you are strange."
"Bob and I began to relax. To our children, the President wasn't the President, but a very nice granddaddy. When he pu…"
"If homosexuality was the normal way, God would have made Adam and Bruce."