Monday, June 21, 2010

It’s About 'Time': How Gay Coverage in the Popular Newsmagazine Has Evolved

"As social attitudes toward GLBTs have shifted, so have political notions--and along with them, the way that gays are viewed in the popular press. Metafilter [a community Weblog], has posted an article on how Time Magazine’s views of gays have changed," writes Kilian Melloy. The article looked at samples of Time’s coverage regarding gays in the years 1956, 1966, 1969, 1975, and 1979. The article noted that Time’s views had "evolved from pathologizing and stereotyping... to awkward attempts to view gays humanely while continuing to refer to their sexual orientation as a disease... to a gradual acceptance of gays as upstanding members of society who are struggling for equal rights." The arc in attitude as demonstrated by the snippets assembled at MetaFilter are striking. What may be equally striking is how applicable that very same block of text from 1979 is to the GLBT situation today, after 31 years. Fascinating! READ MORE