The Daily Agenda for Tuesday, November 5

Jim Burroway

November 5th, 2013

TODAY’S AGENDA:
Illinois Legislature Resumes Veto Session: Springfield, IL. The second half of the Illinois legislature’s veto session begins today, giving State Rep. Greg Harris has just three days to call for a vote on the marriage equality bill that has already passed the Senate. Harris has said that he will only call for a vote when it has the sixty votes needed to pass. Some marriage equality supporters are calling for a vote regardless; at least everyone will know where things stand, they reason. Due to some arcania in Illinois law, if the bill passes with 71 votes then it can take effect thirty days after it’s signed into law. Otherwise, it won’t take effect until June 1, 2014. Weird, huh?

TODAY IN HISTORY:
Los Angeles Times Picketed over Refusal to Run Ads With the Word “Homosexual”: 1969. In October, the Homosexual Information Center sponsored the production of a one act play, Geese, followed by a panel discussion at the Coronet Theater on La Cienega Blvd. The Times refused to run an ad for the vent, citing their policy against printing the word “homosexual.” Outraged by the refusal, Don Slater (see Aug 21), John Hanson and Morris Kight met with the Times’ editorial board on October 29. Paul Rothermell, the administrative assistant in charge of advertising, reiterated that the Times was “a family paper” and that no changes would be made to the paper’s longstanding policy. Kight remembered, “They showed us a list that contained child molesters, rapists, axe murderers, homosexuals, and so forth. We asked why we were on that list; we weren’t a part of that. And they stood up and said we could either accept it or not.”

Accept it they didn’t. One week later, the crew returned to the Times headquarters with pickets in hand. According to their press release, “The Times by its attitude shows that it is cold and indifferent to the efforts of homosexuals to improve their legal and social position in America.” The release also noted that the Homosexual Information Center — with Homosexual prominently a part of its name — was a legally chartered California corporation. “The Times might like to forget that there are some 200,000 homosexuals living in the Los Angeles area … these men and women will not go away simply because the Times shuts them out of its advertising vocabulary.”

Local radio and television covered the protest, along with just about every other paper in the Los Angeles basin, eager to embarrass the competition. But the Times didn’t budge. Later that afternoon, the Times’ executive editor, Robert D, Nelson, issued a statement: “The Times cannot accept advertisements which, in our judgment, fail to meet the standards of acceptability which we have established and which apply to all advertising copy. We feel that it must be our responsibility to make the final decisions as to what is acceptable for publication.”

What made the Times’ policy particularly odd is that the previous March, the paper carried a reasonably well-balanced and sympathetic front page story on the Los Angeles gay community. The word “homosexual” appeared in the sub-headline and eleven more times on the front page, as well as scores more times in two more inside pages. Nevertheless, the Times’ advertising policy remained firm for the next six months until, without fanfare, the Times ran an ad in April for the film Song of the Loon, with ad copy that proclaimed it “a homosexual classic” in big, bold type. It’s hard to say exactly what prompted the Times’ about face, but it came out just as Slater learned that the Times was buying the Dallas Times Herald, which also owned KRLD radio and TV, and threatened to organize a letter-writing campaign to the FCC to block the sale.

[Sources: Edward Alwood. Straight News: Gays, Lesbians and the News Media (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996): 94-95.

Todd White. Pre-Gay L.A.: A Social History of the Movement for Homosexual Rights (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2009):191-192.]

First Openly Gay Candidate Elected to State Legislature: 1974. Elaine Noble, an “avowed Lesbian” in the parlance of the day, made history when she became the first openly gay candidate to win a seat in a state legislature. She won her seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives with 59% of the vote. When she decided to run, she was pressured to hide her sexuality. “There was a lot of pressure from some of my supporters in the community not to mention it,” she told reporters after her win. “But I thought it was necessary to state that politically. I mean, we’re not purple, right? … I figured the worst thing that can happen is that I lose.”

And so she listed among her qualifications in her campaign literature her master’s degree from Harvard, her membership in the Women’s Political Caucus, and her radio program “Gay Way” on a local FM station. She focused her campaign on neighborhood issues: crime, health care, housing for the district’s many elderly residents, and neglect in city services. She later described the campaign as “very ugly.” Her windows were shot out, her car was vandalized, and windows were broken out at her campaign headquarters. The harassment continued even after she took office. She had to deal with obscene profanities, and at one time human feces were left in her desk. But when she stood for re-election two years later, she won with almost 90% of the vote.

San Francisco Bans AIDS Discrimination: 1985. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a measure forbidding the firing or eviction of anyone because they had AIDS, and would prohibit others from requiring AIDS tests. The move came after similar bans were enacted in Los Angeles and West Hollywood.

If you know of something that belongs on the Agenda, please send it here. Don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).

And feel free to consider this your open thread for the day. What’s happening in your world?

Mary Ann Cherry

November 5th, 2013

RE: John Hanson and Morris Kight

It was Joseph Hansen, Kight and Don Slater who met with *Times* Board regarding the *Times* refusal to use the word “homosexual” in ads. Joseph Hansen, author editor and teacher, also wrote under the pseudonymn James Colton (sometimes James Coulton and less frequently as Rose Brock).

Timothy Kincaid

November 5th, 2013

Years ago I read many of Hansen’s ‘Dave Brandstetter Mysteries’

Leave A Comment

All comments reflect the opinions of commenters only. They are not necessarily those of anyone associated with Box Turtle Bulletin. Comments are subject to our Comments Policy.

(Required)
(Required, never shared)

PLEASE NOTE: All comments are subject to our Comments Policy.

 

Latest Posts

The Things You Learn from the Internet

"The Intel On This Wasn't 100 Percent"

From Fake News To Real Bullets: This Is The New Normal

NC Gov McCrory Throws In The Towel

Colorado Store Manager Verbally Attacks "Faggot That Voted For Hillary" In Front of 4-Year-Old Son

Associated Press Updates "Alt-Right" Usage Guide

A Challenge for Blue Bubble Democrats

Baptist Churches in Dallas, Austin Expelled Over LGBT-Affirming Stance

Featured Reports

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.

Slouching Towards Kampala: Uganda’s Deadly Embrace of Hate

When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.

Paul Cameron’s World

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.

From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”

On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.

Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"

The Heterosexual Agenda: Exposing The Myths

At last, the truth can now be told.

Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!

And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.

Testing The Premise: Are Gays A Threat To Our Children?

Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.

Straight From The Source: What the “Dutch Study” Really Says About Gay Couples

Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.

The FRC’s Briefs Are Showing

Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.

Daniel Fetty Doesn’t Count

Daniel FettyThe FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.