General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: My post on a Yahoo! news story "Many blacks shrug off Obama's new view on gays" [View all]HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)He didn't chose to be outed in his work life, people found out about the arrest and it caused him a lot of problems. He got fired. On what planet were "a lot of people" out? Only in certain professions (mainly the arts) could you be out to your colleagues without being at risk. Homosexuality was criminalized in many states and considered abnormal, subnormal, and a mental illness.
The general public didn't know Bayard Rustin was gay, or any other public figure. Those things weren't talked about in the media.
And as for not knowing much about the history, the fact that i mentioned the mattachine society and the daughters of bilitis should have clued you in a bit.
It ain't my version of the truth, sorry. I was alive then and I know how it was. Sorry if you find it offensive. If it was so damn easy to be out in 1963 then what was the movement about and why is it said to have started in 1969 with stonewall, when the police in 'liberal' new york could just walk into a gay club and arrest people for being there?