Subject: Milk/Coors boycott history GLAAD won't tell you
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 16:45:47 EST

[Permission is granted by Allan Baird to reprint this letter.  --mp]

November 25, 1998
SF Bay Guardian

Harvey and the Teamsters
By Allan Baird 

I FIRST MET Harvey Milk and his lover, Scott Smith, in 1973 when they 
opened a camera shop at 575 Castro. At the time, Harvey was running in 
his first campaign for supervisor with a very "bohemian" look; 
ponytail, mustache, jeans and barely any money to run a campaign. 
Unfortunately, Harvey lost the election that year, but he knew another 
day would come. After that first election he changed his appearance to a 
very clean-cut image, including a suit and a haircut. 

I was born in the Castro District in 1932 and grew up there. This was 
when the neighborhood was Eureka Valley and predominantly Irish, long 
before the gay migration of the 1970s. My wife was also raised there, 
and we have never lived anywhere else. 

In 1974 I was a young teamster official and was assigned to direct the 
boycott of Coors beer. The boycott was going successfully, and at one 
point I was invited to meet with William Coors to discuss the boycott at 
his brewery in Golden, Colo. I felt we could talk man-to-man and settle 
the dispute. 

However, Coors was not willing to agree to any terms, so I let him know 
that as soon as I returned to San Francisco, I would meet with Harvey 
Milk, who I said was a strong leader in the gay community. Coors 
replied, "I never heard of a gay community. What the hell is it?" I let 
him know that he would soon find out. 

The next day, I met with Harvey and told him I needed the support of the 
gay community. He agreed, but only on the condition that I put openly 
gay people into Teamster union driving jobs. I agreed, and the first 
openly gay person I dispatched was Howard Wallace, who just happened to 
be a gay activist in San Francisco. Howard later became a union leader 
and has been a very good friend for more than 25 years. 

In turn, Harvey talked to the gay business owners who served Coors beer. 
The owners removed Coors from gay businesses in the Bay Area, and the 
word went out all over California. 

I was always proud I endorsed and supported Harvey from when he first 
ran for office until he was finally elected supervisor Nov. 8, 1977. A 
couple of weeks after he was sworn in as supervisor Jan. 8, 1978, I went 
to visit him at his office. He was very busy on the phone talking to 
young gay people all across the country who called him for support. As I 
was leaving, Harvey told me, "You gotta give 'em hope."<end>

Allan Baird is a retired Teamster official and was the first union 
leader in the United States to endorse an openly gay candidate for 
public office.
  -30-