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