From Stigma to the Supreme Court | A History of Gay Rights Through TIME Covers |

Contents:

• READ THE 'YEP, I'M GAY' ELLEN DEGENER INTERVIEW FROM 1997
• A HISTORY OF GAY RIGHTS THROUGH TIME COVERS
• YEP, I’M GAY, AND I’M A CEO—IT DON’T STOP ME FROM RUNNG A GREAT BS
• ‘YEP, I’M GAY’: UNRSTANDG AGENTIAL INTY
• TIME COVERS THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• ‘YEP, I’M GAY': HAPPY 20TH OUT ANNIVERSARY, ELLEN DEGENER
• MAKINGGAYHISTORY—THE PODCAST

READ THE 'YEP, I'M GAY' ELLEN DEGENER INTERVIEW FROM 1997

It was on the April 14, 1997, ver of TIME magaze that Ellen DeGener, then the star of the s Ellen, nfirmed somethg she’d been buildg up to for s: “Yep, ” as the ver put , “I’m gay. She would be playg the first gay lead character on Amerin work televisn.

Penney, ironilly, as that pany would later hire DeGener for an ad mpaign that would turn draw s own ntroversy — and the natn bated whether the show would “legimize” a facet of life that was still margalized, or if merely proved that homosexualy was already accepted by enough of the populatn that such a plot twist was possible. TIME: So, for the rerd, are you yourself gay?

” I never wanted to be the spokperson for the gay muny. TIME: Is beg gay somethg you stggled wh?

A HISTORY OF GAY RIGHTS THROUGH TIME COVERS

My first gay experience was lerally someone else’s ia–I was eaked out even by the thought of . While beg gay was accepted mastream culture, for those the public eye, g out was still seen as risky. TIME’s ver story shed light on her cisn, revealg how her character wouldn’t be immediately fortable yet wh her sexualy, ntrast to other loud-and-proud gay characters of the era.

The first qutn om TIME’s Michael Krantz: “So, for the rerd, are you yourself gay? One n endlsly bate the qutn of whether televisn fluenc society or reflects : Do Ellen Man’s g out what is still our masst medium legimize homosexualy, or do the sponsorship of a bottom-le bs like ABC merely reflect s acceptance by a signifint portn of the populatn? Next The New Gay Stggle (Oct.

There’s been a lot of attentn the media recently about the lack of publicly gay bs lears. G., “Where Are the Gay Chief Executiv?

YEP, I’M GAY, AND I’M A CEO—IT DON’T STOP ME FROM RUNNG A GREAT BS

” and “Among Gay C. S, the Prsure to Conform” — is that pani and their boards rema one of the last bastns of opposn to gay equaly, and that gay CEOs fear reprisal om shareholrs, therefore remag extremely discreet or closeted.

For as long as I have been bs and nng pani, I’ve been an out gay man.

I often meet other gay people bs…as well as women and people of lor who also rema unrreprented senr rol…who are extraordarily gifted, yet have not had the same opportuni.

‘YEP, I’M GAY’: UNRSTANDG AGENTIAL INTY

Unfortunately, the public dialog around gay civil rights is still fairly cendiary; mere visibily at a gay event n elic a strong reactn. The issu we face n be effectively elimated through the greater visibily of high-performg publicly gay executiv, the open support of boards and shareholrs, and a balanced dialog on the subject om the media.

Prr to that, Robert was Chief Executive Officer of Amerin Eagle Outfters, and has been regnized both for his learship acplishments and unique posn as an out, gay man leadg a public pany.

Yep, I'm GayExclive: Ellen DeGener explas why she's g out. I didn't like that, so I ed the word gay more often.

TIME COVERS THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

In April 1997, Ellen DeGener officially ‘me out’ Time magaze, the ver boldly statg, wh characteristic nonchalance, “Yep, I’m Gay”. In one sense, DeGener’s g out was not rmative: was wily known that DeGener was gay.

Consir, for example, a young man cidg whether to e out to his parents as gay. [7] But, havg realized that he is gay, he to self-intify as gay. [8] This ternal intifitn is ccial to agential inty, but is the choice to e out, the choice to make that private inty public and allow others to perceive him as gay, that would create an agential inty.

If the young man’s parents ignore him or tell him that he’s nfed, and then ntue to ask after his girliend, they effect refe to perceive him as gay. This, turn, ni him accs ( that ntext) to the social posn of a gay man.

‘YEP, I’M GAY': HAPPY 20TH OUT ANNIVERSARY, ELLEN DEGENER

In such a se, he has the agential inty of beg gay virtue of his tentns and actns, but lacks the social posn. (externaly) one mt, nscly or unnscly, make their self-intifitn externally available, whether by engagg certa behavrs or displayg certa readily perceptible featur, where those behavrs or featur outwardly manift (or, certa s, are merely tend to manift) social properti associated wh a particular group, [10] and(posn-directedns) one mt allow, or at least accept, that others take them as occupyg a group associated social posn as a rult of fulfillg (a) self-intifitn ndn stat that, for example, one nnot have the agential inty of beg gay whout actually intifyg as gay. For example, nsir a gay teenager who out to his parents, but otherwise acts nservatively at home orr to mimize the salience of his gay inty.

This same teenager might, other ntexts, liberately talk and behave ways that persistently signal and emphasize his gay inty. When Updike me to realize that she was not gay, the suatn changed.

A closeted gay man, for example, may make succsful efforts to pass as straight, but he do not have an agential inty as straight bee he do not self-intify as straight.

MAKINGGAYHISTORY—THE PODCAST

We n pare this wh a se where a non-closeted gay man—that is, one who agentially intifi as gay—is neverthels treated as straight. We take that social posns are ntext-sensive: jt bee the young man is not regnized as gay at home do not mean he uld not have the social posn of beg gay other social ntexts.

Focg on s like Alena’s, the Natnal Center for trans Equaly and the Natnal Gay and Lbian Taskforce report that after receivg genr-nfirmg treatment, “78% of trans people had improved psychologil functng” and suici rat for trans dividuals drop om a range of 29% to 19% to 6% to 0.