Selling Homosexuality to America

Regent University Law Review ^ | Spring 2002 | Paul E. Rondeau

[quidnunc]

I. Introduction

Among America's culture wars, one of today's most intense controversies rages around the issue alternatively identified, depending on one's point of view, as "normalizing homosexuality" or "accepting gayness." The debate is truly a social-ethical-moral conceptual war that transcends both the scientific and legal, though science and law most often are the weapons of choice. The ammunition for these weapons, however, is persuasion.

This article explores how gay rights [3] activists use rhetoric, psychology, social psychology, and the media — all the elements of modern marketing — to position homosexuality in order to frame what is discussed in the public arena and how it is discussed. In essence, when it comes to homosexuality, activists want to shape "what everyone knows" and "what everyone takes for granted" even if everyone does not really know and even if it should not be taken for granted. [4]

The first strategy of persuasion is to establish a favorable climate for your message so that the communicator (marketer) can influence the future decision without even appearing to be persuading. Pratkanis and Aronson refer to this as pre-selling. [5] This is at the heart of the homosexual campaign: to get consent via social construct today to determine whose idea of personal freedoms will prevail in our legal codes tomorrow.

Part II of this article provides a brief overview of the social climate and politics that ultimately led to the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) imprimatur of homosexual behavior. The declassification of homosexuality as a disorder by the APA provides context for the propaganda war proposed by Kirk and Madsen's homosexual manifesto fifteen years later. The section ends by reviewing the main elements of the campaign including the call to specifically discredit, intimidate, and silence opponents with particular attention paid to conservative Christians.

Part III presents the connection between persuasion and democratic processes. Rhetoric, persuasive communication, propaganda, and social psychology theories are foundational to the concept of selling homosexuality as presented in this article. The purpose of this section is to provide a greater understanding of why persuasion works in order to strengthen the later discussion of how it is applied in the mass persuasion techniques evidenced in today's "gay rights"-style marketing.

Part IV moves to the "4-P's" of the traditional marketing paradigm — Product, Price, Place, and Promotion — to deconstruct and to illustrate how homosexuality is packaged and sold as a competitive product in the marketplace often through education [6] and through positive media coverage. "What is pitched is different — a product brand versus an issue — but the method is the same. In each case, the critical thing is not to let the public know how it is done," [7] states Tammy Bruce, a self-described lesbian feminist and ex-president of the Los Angles chapter of the National Organization for Women. [8]

Part V presents several real examples of how this strategy is employed in five important markets of social influence. The areas examined, which touch every citizen in America, are government, education, organized religion, the media, and the workplace.

Part VI concludes by recapping some achievements of the gay rights campaign and discussing what these may portend for their opponents and American society in the future.

-snip-

[quidnunc]

This is a PDF.

The best way is to print it out and read it from the printed copy.

[Hardastarboard]

In order to sell something, you have to have a buyer. America ain't buying.

[jokar]

Look, I've got issues with Gay Marriage and such, but any piece that apparently advocates for homosexuality to have remained in the DSM is a bit much for me.

And you hold a degree in what field of social sciences ?

[quidnunc]

SerotoninBlocker wrote: Look, I've got issues with Gay Marriage and such, but any piece that apparently advocates for homosexuality to have remained in the DSM is a bit much for me.

DSM = ???

What the article is doing is pointing out how there is a deliberate campaign by the homosexual community to normalize homosexuality and insert it into the mainstream of American society as just another lifestyle.

This would not be a good thing, what with AIDS and the other homosexual pathologies — physical and psychological.

[EternalVigilance]

And when such subtle forms of 'persuasion' (read deception) fail, they quickly resort to threats and intimidation.

I have personally been on the receiving of such tactics...up to and including death threats; for simply defending Concerned Women for America publically.

[longtermmemmory]

John F. Kerry Candidate for President speaking before radical homosexual rights group.

This is the group that brought you the soddomy and mass cases.

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:krjlCeu6gpMJ:www.hrc.org/pressroom/olpc/pres_forum/high_res/kerry1v.jpg

Does anyone have any doubt on where kerry would vote on this issue?

Homosexuals have kerry in their back pocket.

[longtermmemmory]

The same people who wanted homosexuality removed from the DSM worked to remove pedophilia.

Homosexuality is a fetish. We do not give other fetishes special rights no matter how much psychologists say the person is "adjusted" to living with the fetish.

[quidnunc]

SerotoninBlocker wrote: You talk about pathologies, but you don't know what the DSM is? How is AIDS a homosexual pathology? And what other "pathologies" are talking about?

I was a cop for over 30 years so I know something about homosexuals and their proclivities.

I call AIDs a pathology because you don't get it from sitting on a toilet seat.

Homosexuals on the average die early and don't live very happy lives compared to the rest of mainstream society.

[happygrl]

"Homosexuals on the average die early and don't live very happy lives compared to the rest of mainstream society."

See Health and Homosexuality

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/966323/posts

[Texas_Jarhead]

Did you read the entire article?

It's about the marketing of homosexuality, the APA stuff is just parcel. From your posts it sounds like you've already made your purchase.

[Rightone]

SerotoninBlocker member since 2004-1-19.

Less than three weeks here. Interesting take on other threads, too. Not that other postings mean much.........

[EdReform]

BTTT

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