Some of the attitudes about gays expressed in this documentary might shock you, or perhaps, they may seem all too familiar
December 6, 2014
In 1967, US TV network CBS aired an episode of their CBS Reports program entitled ‘The Homosexuals.’
The program aimed to decipher and discover more about homosexual lifestyles, what people knew about them and how people felt towards them.
The documentary opens with the results of a survey into what the average American thought about gay people.
‘Homosexuality is an enigma,’ says presenter Mike Wallace.
‘We discovered that Americans consider homosexuality more harmful to society than adultery, abortion or prostitution.’
The documentary also screens an interview with an openly gay man who speaks positively when he is quizzed about his sexuality and where it stems from, and another, whose face is obscured by shadow, who talks about the trauma of coming out to his family. Contributions from psychologists and experts are also included.
The documentary concludes with a line from Wallace.
‘The dilemma of the homosexual: told by the medical profession he is sick; by the law that he's a criminal; shunned by employers; rejected by heterosexual society,’ he said.
‘Incapable of a fulfilling relationship with a woman, or for that matter with a man. At the center of his life he remains anonymous. A displaced person. An outsider.’
Film journal, FilmThreat, would later report Wallace admitted he regretted the tone of the piece.
For LGBTI audiences, it is a particularly poignant look into the past. Are the views expressed in the video outdated, old-fashioned and completely outrageous? Or are they still claims levelled against gay people to this day?
And, more importantly, how far has the LGBTI community come in terms of how the straight community view us, and how we view ourselves?
What do you think?
Watch the video below:
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Even in the short 10 years that I have been out, I've witnessed a miraculous sea change in peoples thoughts, attitudes and beliefs about what it really means to be a same gender loving person.
Having come out, I am now married to a wonderful man and together we are raising children and we're respected and admired by our families, neighbors, work colleagues and customers. Indeed, coming out was the key to changing the misconceptions about what people thought they knew about what it actually means be gay.
This moment of discussion from 1967 along with many others both before and after this all helped to bring us to this much happier place today. Although we haven't won all our rights and full equality yet, that day is clearly not far off and that is something most would have never believed possible in 1967.
"Fear Eats the Soul"
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