Arts & Entertainment
Buckley vs. Vidal
New doc recalls seminal debates of 1968
William F. Buckley Jr., left, with Gore Vidal in their 1968 summer showdown on ABC. (Photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures)
According to “Best of Enemies,” the excellent new documentary by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon, television news coverage changed forever on the night of Aug. 28, 1968.
During a live television debate on ABC News, conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. called liberal author Gore Vidal “a queer.”
Gordon explains, “A word like that was way across the line. It was so shocking that ABC pulled the broadcast from the West Coast. The task of this film, which opens on Friday, Aug. 7 at Landmark E Street and Bethesda Row Cinemas, was to put that moment in context.”
In the summer of 1968, there were only three major broadcast television networks. ABC was dead last in the ratings war with CBS and NBC. Executives at ABC News decided to take a desperate gamble. They replaced part of the traditional gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions with a series of live debates. They went all in by choosing two towering public intellectuals who were both ideological opposites and personal enemies.
On the right was Buckley, editor of the influential “National Review” and host of the popular television show “Firing Line.” A conservative Catholic, Buckley was instrumental in reshaping the Republican Party, ultimately helping to usher in the Reagan Revolution. As Gordon notes, “Buckley tried to make the party more reasonable and respectable.”
On the left was Gore Vidal, a prolific author and an estranged member of the Kennedy clan. Vidal’s groundbreaking 1948 novel “The City and the Pillar” dealt with male homosexuality in a forthright and positive manner and his satirical 1968 novel “Myra Breckinridge” skewered gender norms and conventional sexual practices.
Over the course of 10 nights, the two men sparred under the gentle watch of bemused anchorman Howard K. Smith. The debates were an amazing blend of erudite political commentary and barbed personal invective. This impassioned rhetoric was fueled by a fascinating undercurrent of gay baiting.
On the night of Aug. 28, Vidal upped the ante by calling Buckley a “crypto-Nazi.” Gordon notes that Vidal really hit Buckley “where it hurt. Buckley had gone to great lengths to rid the party of that rhetoric. Gore was trying to undermine all of Buckley’s work.”
Buckley lashed out at Vidal’s insult. Rising from his seat, he shouted, “Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in your goddamn face and you’ll stay plastered.”
According to the filmmakers, that moment changed the lives of both men and the nature of political discourse in America. Neville says, “It got a lot of attention. People talked about it for years and they were asked about it for the rest of their lives. For Buckley, it was probably the moment he was most ashamed of. He had prided himself on a lifetime of creating difficult situations and maintaining his cool in them. His outburst meant he lost the debate. It certainly haunted him thereafter.”
The impact for ABC was much more positive. The debates were a hit. Before the broadcasts, Neville notes, “CBS and NBC each had around 300 affiliates and ABC only had 150. After the debates, ABC quickly caught up with its rivals and became the trendsetter in news coverage.” Neville and Gordon contend that a new era in television journalism was launched by the Buckley-Vidal debates.
History
Julius’ Bar ‘sip-in’ laid groundwork for Stonewall
Tuesday marked 60 years since four gay activists held protest
While Stonewall is widely considered the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the U.S., a lesser-known protest inside a Greenwich Village bar three years earlier helped lay critical groundwork for what would follow.
Tuesday marked 60 years since the Julius’ Bar “sip in.”
On April 21, 1966, four gay rights activists — Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell, John Timmons, and later Randy Wicker — walked into Julius’ Bar and staged what would become known as a “sip-in” to challenge state liquor regulations on serving alcoholic beverages to gay men — with a drink.
Modeled after the sit-ins that challenged racial segregation across the American South, the protest was designed to confront discriminatory practices targeting LGBTQ patrons in public spaces.
At the time, the Mattachine Society — one of the country’s earliest gay rights groups — was actively pushing back against policies enforced by the New York State Liquor Authority. One of those policies could have resulted in the loss of liquor licenses for serving known or suspected gay men and lesbians. The participants had visited multiple establishments, openly identified themselves as homosexual, and requested a drink — with the anticipation of being denied.
Their final stop was Julius’, where reporters and a photographer had gathered to document the moment. When Leitsch declared their identity, the bartender covered their glasses and refused service, reportedly saying, “I think it’s against the law.” The next day, the New York Times ran a story with the headline, “3 Deviates Invite Exclusion by Bars,” cementing the moment in the public record.
Though initially framed with disrespect — the term “sip-in” itself was coined as a play on civil rights protests — the action marked a turning point. It brought national attention to the systemic discrimination LGBTQ people faced and helped catalyze changes in how liquor laws were enforced. In the years that followed, the protest contributed to the emergence of licensed, more openly gay-friendly bars, which became central social and organizing spaces for LGBTQ communities.
The Washington Blade originally covered when the bar was officially added to the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Today, historians and advocates increasingly recognize the “sip-in” as a key pre-Stonewall milestone. According to the New York City LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, the protest not only increased visibility of the early LGBTQ rights movement but also exposed widespread surveillance and entrapment tactics used against the community.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the event, commemorations have taken place in New York and across the country. Reflecting on its enduring legacy, Amanda Davis, executive director of the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, spoke about the event.
“Julius’ Bar is a place you can visit and viscerally connect with history,” said Davis. “We’re thrilled to have solidarity locations across the country join us in commemorating the ‘sip-in’’s 60th anniversary and the queer community’s First Amendment right to peaceably assemble.”
For current stewards of the historic bar, the responsibility of preserving that legacy remains front of mind.
“It’s a privilege and a responsibility to be the steward of a place so important to American and LGBTQ history,” said current owner of Julius’ Bar, Helen Buford. “The events of the 1966 Sip-In here at Julius’ resonated across the country and inspired countless others to stand proud for their rights.”
The timing couldn’t have come at a more important moment, Kymn Goldstein, executive director of the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, explained.
“At a time when our community faces renewed challenges, coming together in resilience and solidarity reminds us of the power in our collective resistance,” Goldstein said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, an organization dedicated to defending rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, is currently tracking 519 anti-LGBTQ bills across the U.S. The majority are targeted at restricting transgender rights — particularly related to gender-affirming care, sports participation, and the use of public bathrooms.
Some additional groups and bars that held their own “sip-in” as solidarity events to uplift this historic milestone are from across the country include:
Alice Austen House at Steiny’s Pub, Staten Island, N.Y.
Bellows Falls Pride Committee at PK’s Irish Pub, Bellows Falls, Vt.
Brick Road Coffee, Mesa, Ariz.
Brick Road Coffee, Tempe, Ariz.
Dick Leitsch’s Family at Old Louisville Brewery, Louisville, Ky.
The Faerie Playhouse & LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana at Le Cabaret, New Orleans
Harlem Pride & John Reddick at L’Artista Italian Kitchen & Bar, New York
JOYR!DE KiKi at Loafers Cocktail Bar, New York
Matthew Lawrence & Jason Tranchida / Headmaster at Deadbeats Bar, Providence, R.I.
Mazer Lesbian Archives at Alana’s Coffee, Los Angeles
New Hope Celebrates at The Club Room, New Hope, Pa.
Queer Memory Project at the University of Evansville Multicultural Student Commons / Ridgway University Center, Evansville, Ind.
Sandy Jack’s Bar, Brooklyn, N.Y.
St. Louis LGBT History Project at Just John Club, St. Louis
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch was held at Salamander Washington DC on Sunday, April 19. Gov. Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) was presented with the Allyship Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The umbrella LGBTQ sports organization Team D.C. held its annual Night of Champions Gala at the Georgetown Marriott on Saturday, April 18. Team D.C. presented scholarships to local student athletes and presented awards to Adam Peck, Manuel Montelongo (a.k.a. Mari Con Carne), Dr. Sara Varghai, Dan Martin and the Centaur Motorcycle Club. Sean Bartel was posthumously honored with the Most Valuable Person Award.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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