The room was intense and packed. Angry people from both sides stood up to give righteousness to their view on rather we should fight the ballot initiative coming up. Major donors said it couldn't be won and they wouldn't finance it. The leader of The Advocate said if they attempted to go for it he would destroy those who wanted to proceed. Polls showed that we couldn't win and the focus groups weren't much better. Those who wanted to proceed were neophytes and didn't understand politics. The overall tone in the opposition was that we can't win, "Not Now. Oh, Lord Not Now."

No, that wasn't this weekend's meeting in San Bernardino, California of activists discussing whether to place a repeal of Proposition 8 on the ballot in 2010. It was 1978 and it was whether to fight Proposition 6 (the anti-gay school teachers initiative) in California. Sounds familiar doesn't it?