Word: gayness
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Macon, Ga. (pop. 150,000), two gay bars compete for customers with no police harassment. But the only proclaimed homosexual in town is Disc Jockey Johnny Fambro, who came out last fall to help organize opposition to an Anita Bryant rally. "Susan," a lesbian who works at nearby Robins Air Force Base, attended the anti-Bryant demonstration but would not carry a picket sign because she feared she would not get a security clearance; nor will she take her roommate "Doris" to parties...
...Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard -Radcliffe Gay Student Association meets openly every Wednesday night to hear speeches and play readings, and has thrown parties that attracted as many as 300 students from the area. At Harvard Law School, gays have acquired considerable clout; the school now will not allow any law firms that discriminate against homosexuals to use its placement service for employment interviews. But gay students at Harvard Business School still keep their homosexuality a deep secret for fear that it will hurt their employment prospects with major corporations when they graduate. The chairwoman of the Radcliffe Lesbians Association asks...
Among the gays, there is a basic split between those who flaunt a defiant lifestyle and the closeted, who grant that "drag queens" and "flaming fags" have called attention to the gays' plight by marching in the streets, yet would never dream of emulating them. There are other divisions. Black homosexuals charge, with some justice, that the gay rights movement is dominated by whites who are often no less racist than straight society. At the same time they are rejected, and vehemently, by heterosexual blacks. Says Terri Clark, a Washington lesbian activist: "The black community is extremely homophobic, because...
Lesbians often feel themselves to be the most persecuted minority of all. One reason is economic: working at low-paying jobs, they usually do not have as much money as gay males, who are often successful in the straight world. Nor do homosexual men usually have children to support, as do a fair number of lesbians who have finally admitted their sexual orientation. Many female homosexuals think they have less in common with gay men than with heterosexual feminists, who have now largely accepted them after some early misgivings...
...males are also far more visible than the females in performing one of the most fascinating roles of the gay rights movement: influencing straight culture. Male homosexuals have long been particularly active in the world of the arts, where they often can work openly with no fear of losing their livelihood if they have the talent; Novelist Truman Capote and Playwright Tennessee Williams are two notable examples. But the new influence of homosexuals is something quite different: their dress, tastes and speech are being adopted by many straights who would be stunned if they knew the origins of the latest...