Recognizing the gay man who saved Gerald Ford’s life

On September 22 1975, just years after the Stonewall Riots when gay people were still fighting for visibility and the early stages of equality, one gay man saved President Gerald Ford from an attempted assassination.

During our 38th president’s 29 month residency as President, a number of LGBT issues were arising all around the country, and were being forced into the lives of people all around the country, whether they liked it or not. It was also, in retrospect, a pretty gay friendly presidency for it’s time. In the following decades we would face the AIDS epidemic and a long run of conservative politicians running the show.

But, it was the gay savior that gave the gay community the most positive press it may have ever received. It was Oliver “Bill” Sipple, a vietnam veteran and purple heart recipient, who saved the presidents life in the streets of San Francisco. It was Sara Jane Moore fired two shots at the president as he was entering a limousine. The first shot just missed Ford. Sipple, who was standing beside Moore, reacted to the shot by pushing away her arm as she fired again.

The act propelled him into the spotlight, which had a different turn of events for Sipple. Before the attempted assassination, Sipple met Harvey Milk back in New York and had participated in San Francisco’s gay pride parades and gay rights demonstrations. He was active in local causes, including the historic political campaigns of openly gay City Council candidate Milk. Sipple would also be later described as a “prominent figure” in the gay community who had worked in a gay bar and was active in the Imperial Court System.

When the San Francisco Chronicle wrote about the man who saved the president, they outed him to his family, causing tension and estrangement. This did not help his war-related psychological problems. Instead it contributed to his alcoholism.

Sipple’s mental and physical health sharply declined over the years. He drank heavily, gained weight to 300 lbs, was fitted with a pacemaker, and became paranoid and suicidal. The incident brought him so much attention that, later in life, while drinking, he would express regret towards grabbing Moore’s gun. Sipple died at the age of 47.

But it may have been his actions to make President Ford the first president to join a gay organization when he joined the Republican Unity Coalition (RUC) in 2002. The gay-straight alliance focuses on making homosexuality a non-issue within the Republican Party.

Thank you, Oliver “Bill” Sipple for being a hero, and opening the eyes of American’s when all they felt towards us was disgust.