He certainly counters Briggs’ assertion that ‘most homosexuals are child molesters’ by presenting very clear facts and a logical argument. In so doing he added his voice to that of others like Harvey Milk and Jimmy Carter in opposing the measures. And that undoubtedly helped turn the conservative tide and lead to the Proposition’s defeat.

But at no point did he ever present his argument in terms of equal rights for gays and lesbians and his silence on that is one of the issues taken up by his critics. Furthermore, during his presidential campaign in 1980 he said:

“My criticism is that [the gay movement] isn’t just asking for civil rights; it’s asking for recognition and acceptance of an alternative lifestyle which I do not believe society can condone, nor can I.”

Even his conservative supporters acknowledge that he did nothing for LGBT civil rights. Dale Carpenter, for example, states:

“It’s true that no pro-gay legislation, like an employment non-discrimination bill, made headway during the Reagan years. But anti-gay legislation also made little progress. Reagan often talked the talk of religious conservatism, but he did not often walk the walk.”

So, by his own admission, Reagan didn’t believe in social recognition or acceptance for us. By the admission of his supporters he did nothing to further our civil rights.

The best we could hope for, it seemed, was ‘tolerance’ and much has been made of the fact that the Reagans actually had a same sex couple – their interior decorator and his partner – stay overnight in the White House.

That such a pathetic event should be held up as a shining example of Reagan’s benevolence towards homosexuals speaks volumes in itself. And even this barrel-scraping is undermined by claims that Reagan, when governor of California, sacked every gay member of his staff after they were outed by a newspaper. He then subsequently denied there had ever been any homosexuals on his staff.

As for his inaction during the mounting AIDS crisis, his supporters have argued that the government did provide a year-upon-year increase in AIDS funding. His critics respond by pointing out that this was not a decision he had any hand in: he kept away from the issue as much as possible. (* See bottom of this post.)

It is clear that he didn’t even mention the word AIDS until some years after it was first identified in 1981. His supporters argue he said it first in September 1985; his critics say it wasn’t until 1986. Either way, thousands of people were already infected and facing a range of health and financial hardships as well as prejudice and hostility. Furthermore,  Rock Hudson – apparently a close family friend – had already died and Ryan White – a young heterosexual who contracted the virus through a blood transfusion – had been subjected to an intense and very public hate campaign.