Opinion | How the New York Times Helped Keep People in the Closet
politico.comJack Shafer 05/09/2022 07:26 PM EDT Link CopiedJack Shafer is Politico’s senior media writer.Almost every American institution and branch of government stands guilty of mistreating gay people.
Not until December 1973 did the American Psychiatric Association vote to remove homosexuality from its psychiatric disorder category (the APA still recoiled from calling it “normal”).
Not until July 1975 did the federal government lift the blanket work-ban on gay men and lesbians. Not until August 1995 could gay men and lesbians qualify for national security clearances.
Not until July 2003 were laws against sodomy invalidated in the United States. And that’s just for starters.Enlightenment came slowly and has still not arrived in some places, so it makes sense that Ed Koch concealed and publicly denied his homosexuality until his death in 2013.
