Coming Out in the 80s: A Look Back at LGBTQ Life

As a GenXer, we often look back on the 80s culture with this loving nostalgia, the rose colored glasses syndrome. We have this idea of how great it was because we remember rocking out to our favorite songs with our friends on the bus ride home, heading to the mall (if you were lucky enough to live near one), weekend movies, and the enormity that was 80s cartoons.Those memories well up in our mind and often gloss over that it was also a decade of struggle and turmoil.

When the 1980s started, LGBTQ rights was not a phrase that was tossed around, hell you would be hard pressed to even hear homosexuality talked about in more than hush whispers filled with disgust and disdain. We were in the trenches, fighting for the rights we had no clue we would get but prayed for daily. Join me today as we set the way back marching to 1980 and discuss Coming out in the 80s: A Look Back at LGBTQ Life.

The invisible masses

I have mentioned in other posts that my sister and I grew up with some knowledge of LGBTQ culture and people. My mother was best friends with a lesbian couple she met at the factory she worked at. Pat and Diane were fixtures in our lives and spent a lot of time around us. It was the only real insight into LGBTQ culture we had. Television and movies did nothing to help change the stereotype of limp wristed, flouncy queens and diesel bull dykes waiting to steal housewives from their happy homes.

As I sat through health classes in school, there was no mention of being queer, especially in any positive light. Sure AIDS was discussed but the focus was more on scaring us out of wanting sex than anything productive. At no time in History, English, or Latin classes were historical figures discussed in terms of the homosexuality. It was a hetero-centric world and we were just renting space in it.

I grew up in a rural southern mountain area and the one thing that didnt happen was men holding hands, hugging, exchanging a quick kiss, or, god forbid, even sitting next to one another in a movie theater without a fear of being thought of as GAY!!! We were mostly discussed like mythological figures like unicorns and fairies. And when a group of heterosexual redneck boys got it in their mind that someone may be “gay,” it became their mission to inflict as much hatred, humiliation, and pain on them as they could think of. It was torturous to say the least. But these were only a small amount of the pains and hurdles we had to face.

Life and media representation

The 1980s was the decade where activism seemed to explode for LGBTQ+ Community. Eleven years earlier was Stonewall and its impact had not been forgotten. By 1981 a new disease was reported world-wide and solidified an activism movement that would reshape the world and its view of people.

AIDS epidemic

There is a bit of an argument as to when the first cast of AIDS was found in the United States. There is one report that in 1969 a 16 year old boy from Missouri named Robert Rayford died of AiDS. AT the time, he was classified as having died from complications from pneumonia but many of the symptoms puzzled his doctors. A test later revealed the truth of his infection. Initially, due to a long outdated belief in patient zero, the first documented AIDS case came in June 5th, 1981 when several young gay men died from a rare type of pneumonia. At this time it was still called GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency).

• Impact on the LGBTQ community: The 1980s were heavily defined by the AIDS crisis. The disease, initially called “gay-related immune deficiency” (GRID), was disproportionately affecting gay men, leading to widespread fear, stigma, and a heightened public association between AIDS epidemic and the LGBTQ community.

• Activism: This crisis galvanized LGBTQ activists. Organizations like ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) emerged to demand better treatment, research funding, and combat the stigma associated with AIDS. Their activism played a crucial role in drawing attention to the disease and pressuring governments to respond.

Today, we have some protections in many states, but this wasn’t the case forty years ago. There were no protections for employment or housing. Healthcare was atrocious, HIV/AIDS patients, in many hospitals, died alone because their friends and lovers were not allowed to visit them – due to not being family members. Talk shows made light of affections felt for others and it was much easier for us to hide in the shadows than be present and out.

• Homophobia: Homophobia was pervasive in the 1980s. The LGBTQ Community faced discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, and social settings. It was not uncommon for people to be ostracized by their families, lose their jobs, or face violence for coming out.

• Closeted Lives: Due to the stigma, many LGBTQ individuals remained closeted, living in fear of being “outed” or exposed. Public figures, in particular, faced significant pressure to hide their sexuality, fearing the loss of careers or reputations.

Representation in media

The 1980s were not kind to queer culture. As a kid, I remember seeing a specific type of gay man on television shows, especially in the drama setting. It was always an aloof man that tended to be just a tad more feminine than many felt comfortable, wore some kind of ascot (scarf) around their neck, and talked overly lispy. They were the modern “damsel in distress” roles. Never where they strong characters and often fell victim to the toxic masculine killer who seemed to take extra thrill in inflicting pain on them.

• Limited Positive Visibility: LGBTQ representation in mainstream media was limited and often negative, with LGBTQ characters typically portrayed as villains, victims, or in tragic roles. Positive depictions were rare.

• LGBTQ Subculture: Despite the challenges, LGBTQ culture thrived underground. Bars, clubs, and “ballroom culture” became important spaces for LGBTQ people, especially for marginalized groups within the community, such as Black and Latino LGBTQ individuals. Shows like Paris is Burning (1990) document the vibrancy of this scene.

LGBTQ and the socio-political scene

As if our representation in life and media wasn’t bad enough, the political realm wasn’t any better for us. Antiquated laws still plagued LGBTQ people in every state. The simple act of having sex with your lover could land you in jail. On the heels of the red panic in the 1960s, we saw the rise of the Satanic and Gay panic in the 1980s, both were means of targeting out section of the population with misinformation and hatred.

Political Backlash

Far right conservative political movements started to grow in the 1980s. While not specifically targeting LGBTQ people, their aim was pretty clear. It was easy to wrap up hated in religious ideologies and it was the perfect vehicle to spread hatred to the uneducated masses and continue a reign of making us the villains to all that was wholesome.

• Conservative Movements: The 1980s saw the rise of conservative movements, particularly under the presidency of Ronald Reagan in the U.S., and similar political trends in other countries. These movements were often hostile to LGBTQ rights. Religious organizations like the Moral Majority, led by figures like Jerry Falwell, framed homosexuality as immoral, leading to increased resistance to LGBTQ rights.

• Government Inaction on AIDS: The U.S. government, particularly under Reagan, was criticized for its slow response to the AIDS epidemic. It took years before Reagan publicly addressed AIDS, which left the LGBTQ community feeling abandoned by their government.

Legal Landscape

Speaking of using human trappings to keep prejudice going, the legal landscape of the 1980s definitely was rife with anti=gay rhetoric. We would not see the first repeal of sodomy laws sweepin the nation until the mid to late 1990s. It was a small issue that these laws affect heterosexual couples as much as homosexual ones. It was also perfectly legal for you to lose your job simple for being gay. Most places would simply said you either failed to fit into the company culture or that somehow you were not qualified the for role.

• Anti-sodomy Laws: In many countries, including the U.S., laws criminalizing homosexuality (particularly same-sex sexual acts) were still on the books. In the U.S., it wasn’t until 2003 that the Supreme Court struck down such laws nationwide in Lawrence v. Texas.

• Limited Legal Protections: LGBTQ individuals had very few legal protections against discrimination. There was no national or widespread legal recognition of same-sex relationships, no protections against employment or housing discrimination, and no legal framework for adopting children.

Beginnings of Progress

The 1980s were a dark, bleak period for LGBTQ, though they were not without hope. As activism became forefront in battling the AIDS epidemic, we started seeing other parts of the political area fall into the wreslting match for progress. This was the decade that woudl see the implimention of GLAAD and growth of PFLAG. Hope was coming and change was beginning to appear on the horizon,

• Activism Grows: By the late 1980s, LGBTQ rights movements were gaining traction. Visibility of LGBTQ issues, partly due to the AIDS epidemic, began to rise. Organizations like GLAAD (founded in 1985) were created to challenge defamatory representations of LGBTQ people in the media.

• First Political Wins: Some cities and states began to pass laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, and there were initial steps toward legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, particularly in Europe.

Coming out of hiding

The 1980s were a challenging decade for LGBTQ people. While there were increasing levels of visibility and the seeds of future progress, the community was beset by the AIDS crisis, widespread discrimination, and political backlash. The resilience and activism of LGBTQ individuals in the face of these challenges laid the groundwork for the advances in LGBTQ rights that would come in the following decades.

The unfortunate part is that we seem to be facing that world, yet again. We are watching moved being made to reverse the protections we have been given. We have parties that want back into office with agendas to make sure the moral ground is brought back to bear and that any who dont fit that mold are put back in their proper places. What can change these things, you may ask? The answer is you, each of you. We all need to get out and vote for those that stand with us, or at the very least are not openly against us. Each of us must stand up and be counted. Look at it this way, the more of us who aren’t out and visible gives the impression that we aren’t here, we aren’t a group that needs to be acknowledged. We will become what they view us as, deviants who have chosen to live this way in the face of what is right. We have to be the force of change, again.

Today is National Coming Out Day and the message to get out and vote is stronger now than it has been in years. We are watching a tyrant come back onto the scene who may do irreparable damage to our country, democracy, and way of life. If you have not registered to vote, make it a priority. You still have time for a mail in ballot, if you prefer. But we have to change our future so we dont relive our past. What about you, how do you feel about where we are, now, in relation to where we were in the 1980s? Let me know in the comments below and remember, you are the reason for GayintheCLE. My deep personal thanks to each of you for making it what it is.

Coming Out in the 80s: A Look Back at LGBTQ Life

The invisible masses