Chapter 10: LGBTQ Culture and Community in the 1980s

In 1980, Melvin Boozer, a Black gay activist, spoke at the Democratic National Convention and posed a difficult question to America: Would you ask him to choose between being Black and being gay? His call for equality on national television came at the beginning of a very difficult decade for the American LGBTQ+ community. The 1980s would be among the most challenging in this community’s history, marked by a deadly epidemic and political and cultural battles. The decade began with a mixture of hope and trouble for the community. The gay liberation movement of the 1970s had achieved many hard-fought victories, but it encountered a conservative backlash during the Reagan era. Religious fundamentalists and politicians often spoke ill of gay men and lesbians, relegating them to the margins of society. The AIDS crisis united the American LGBTQ+ community like never before.