Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels

individual choices…Gay marriage… alarms many Americans precisely because it portends blurry
unknowable enormities. We will be, after all, the first society ever to pursue the experiment
fully” (Kaylan. 2003).
“The concept of externalities helps define situations that justify government intervention
and identify appropriate policy solutions to the problem. Externalities exist when an
individual’s actions impose costs on or provide benefits to others who are not parties to the
decision… This approach provides criteria for when government should act and the type of
policies it should use… Positive externalities provide gains for society, while negative
externalities produce losses… ” (Steinacker, 2006:460)
This paper documents the social movements that developed over the last 50 years in
support of increased social acceptance for homosexuality in society and the social movements
that organized to challenge and deter them. The ideologies and arguments presented by the
opposing groups and the positive and/or negative externalities outlined by them will be
identified. The ‘battles’ within the military, professional health organizations, religious
organizations, and schools are examined , as well as the battle over definitions of marriage and
family.
Events will be organized in chronological order to keep in focus the development of the
opposing movements as they progress through the decades.
Gay History in America (GA, 1996: chap. 1)
Until the middle of the 20 th century, homosexuality in America was a taboo subject and a
criminal offense. In early America sodomy was a capital offense. While some people engaged
in ‘deviant’ sexual behavior, it was not often divulged.
1948, The Kinsey Institute published a study of the sexual behavior of 5,300 men which
reported that 10% of the sample had been more or less exclusively homosexual for 3 years
and that 37% of the sample had some homosexual experience resulting in orgasm. The Kinsey
Reports were based on samples of convenience rather than scientifically developed random
samples. Kinsey had drawn samples of respondents from prisons, mental hospitals, college
fraternaties and even hitchhikers. Although research by Reisman and Eichel (1990) exposed
serious scientific and ethical flaws in these reports, the findings helped foster a sense of
community and self-acceptance among homosexuals.
Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010
Dr. M. L. Coppock
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