Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels

Gays Confront the Media
The Comstock Act was passed in 1873 prohibiting the dissemination of any “article of an
immoral nature, or any drug or medicine, or any article whatever for the prevention of
contraception or procuring of abortion” through the U.S. mail or across state lines. It remains
on the books today, forbidding use of the mails to distribute obscene material (Rierson, 2010).
In the 1950’s, the Mattachine Society, the Daughters of Bilitis, and ONE, Inc. developed into
national organizations supporting gay liberation by defying the Comstock laws. In 1958, ONE
Magazine, the first gay magazine to reach a wide audience, won a decision from the U.S.
Supreme Court to allow it’s mailings. Feminist publications addressed lesbian concerns in the
1970’s and 1980’s, and during the 1980’s and 1990’s, gay and lesbian publications boldly
promoted safer sex practices for ‘queers’, countering mainstream admonitions for celibacy
(GA,1996:281).
When homosexuals were discussed in the news prior to the 1960’s it was generally in a
negative light. During the 1950’s, The New York Times used the word ‘perverts’ in reference to
homosexuals. The first instance of positive reporting appeared in People Today in 1955 with an
article entitled, “Third Sex Comes Out of Hiding”, in response to an article published by ONE
Magazine. In 1964, Life magazine published an article entitled “Homosexuality in America”.
Although mostly negative, it attempted to explain homosexuality to the mainstream society.
Following the declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973 media became
more positive in its willingness to discuss issues related to gays and lesbians. In 1979, Time
magazine reported increasing coverage on gays that outlined both tolerance and concern.
“Homosexual publishing is booming, and gays now receive far more sympathetic coverage in
the media…Police who were once notorious for harassing homosexuals are now likely to be
found playing good-will softball games with gays…At the same time, there is strong reaction
against the homosexual rights movement. Polls show resistance to homosexuals as
schoolteachers, and to laws that seem to enshrine homosexuals as a specially protected
minority” (Leo, 1979).
Six Point Strategy
In 1987 homosexual activists, Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen, published an article titled
“The Overhauling of Straight America”, followed in 1989 by a book titled After The Ball. In these
writings Kirk and Madsen laid out a six-point strategy to radically change the way Americans
perceived homosexual behavior (Sears and Osten, 2003:17-28).
Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010
Dr. M. L. Coppock
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