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Interestingly enough your mention of that bit of ancient history for those of us less fortunate as to not have been around then, coincidentally mirrored an article that appeared at the Advocate.com yesterday.
You'll find that ironically, given some of the recent dubious and outright nutty statements of the Anti-Gay Christiban coalition, this 42 year old broadcast seems almost contemporary eh?
I thought I'd jot some notes and share this video with all of you "youngsters" here at Tim's.... [ I need to point out that the video runs for 45 minutes as it was produced as a news broadcast piece. ]
In 1967, CBS News produced The Homosexuals, an hour long look at the issue of homosexuality in America, reported by correspondent Mike Wallace. It aired on March 7th of that year, and according to reports, CBS News presented two versions for broadcast – the first was rejected because the network feared it would be regarded as an endorsement of homosexuality. No commercials aired, only public service announcements – sponsors did not want to seem to sanction homosexuality.
The tone of the report is obviously set by the time: homosexuality is an illness, the report predated the delisting of gay as mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, and homosexuals are ghettoized, seen as outsiders, living lonely, sad lives without much hope for happy, healthy relationships – a sentiment underlined by the psychiatrist Charles Socarides, although, with much irony, his son Richard, openly gay, would go on to become the adviser to President Clinton on gay rights.
The piece, predating Stonewall, was recently found by Mike White, and is more than an odd cultural curiosity – although it certainly is that. It is an important reminder of what has changed, in that little actually has. Attitudes towards gays still sound the same notes today, and worse. What resonated for me is the appearance of Jack Nichols, who employs an alias – Warren Adkins. Articulate, intelligent, and thoughtful, Nichols, forty years ago, anticipates the arguments of homophobes today, bravely telling Wallace that his sexual orientation is innate, like the color of his hair or skin, and that he could not conceive renouncing it. He is the hero of the piece, a pioneer.
The day after The Homosexuals aired, he was fired from his job at a Washington hotel.
[Updated on: Thu, 11 February 2010 12:41] |
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