Partner
Justice  /  Audio

The Homosexual in Our Society

This 1958 interview is the earliest known radio recording to overtly discuss homosexuality.

Embedded video

If the video does not load or is not working, it may be a problem with the video service, or you may need to turn off an ad blocking browser extension.

This recording from 1958 - the earliest known radio recording to overtly discuss homosexuality - features Public Affairs Director of KPFA Elsa Knight Thompson interviewing Hal Call, the editor of the Mattachine Society's newsletter, the Mattachine Review; Dr. Blanche Baker, a psychologist noted for her then-rarely-shared belief that homosexuality was not an abnormality nor an illness; and Leah Gailey, the mother of a gay man. Gailey recounts her shock at first learning her son was gay and her eventual embrace of her son's sexuality. Call asserts that "every tenth person...is predominantly homosexual". Topics discussed include the conflict of the society versus the individual, whether the root of homosexuality is a product of biology or environment, flamboyant individuals, and elimination of effeminate gestures that distinguish homosexuals versus educating public that these mannerisms are not significant.