"Newsweek" ran an article on "The Homosexual Teacher" in December 1978. At the end of a tumultuous two-year period framed by Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign in South Florida and John Briggs' proposition to bar gay and lesbian educators from working in California public schools, reporters concluded, "Most homosexual teachers are deeply plagued by job anxiety." That observation likely came as no surprise. In this article, the author explores the Bryant and Briggs campaigns to see if this exposure of the recent past can shed light on some longstanding school questions. Anita Bryant and John Briggs used students as a rhetorical tool to target gay and lesbian teachers. Their camp exploited teachers as a wedge in the battle over gay rights. And conservative activists considered their attack on the gay rights movement the linchpin in their campaign to advance a far-reaching political agenda. In the conclusion, the author reflects upon what it means to objectify students and teachers in this way, moving them about as pawns on a political chessboard. But first, the author takes another look at the rhetoric that characterized the Bryant and Briggs campaigns. (Contains 80 footnotes.)