Homosexuals became popular because they enacted a playbook and followed through on it. Think Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.
After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90's
The architects aka authors:
Marshall Kirk (researcher in neuropsychiatry, logician, poet, graduated Harvard in 1980)
Hunter Madsen (
expert in public persuasion tactics and social marketing, designed commercial advertising on Madison Avenue, Ph.D. in Politics, graduated Harvard 1985)
From the book flap: "Dismissing the movement's outworn techniques in favor of carefully calculated public relations propaganda, AFTER THE BALL unveils the key psychological principles and national strategies that gays must follow..."
The book is an expansion of an article the authors wrote in 1987.
THE OVERHAULING OF STRAIGHT AMERICA
Here are the rules a a summary:
[1] TALK ABOUT GAYS AND GAYNESS AS LOUDLY AND AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.
almost any behavior begins to look normal if you are exposed to enough of it at close quarters and among your acquaintances.
[2] PORTRAY GAYS AS VICTIMS, NOT AS AGGRESSIVE CHALLENGERS.
gays must be cast as victims in need of protection so that straights will be inclined by reflex to assume the role of protector.
[3] GIVE PROTECTORS A JUST CAUSE.
The right to free speech, freedom of beliefs, freedom of association, due process and equal protection of laws-these should be the concerns brought to mind by our campaign.
[4] MAKE GAYS LOOK GOOD.
In order to make a Gay Victim sympathetic to straights you have to portray him as Everyman. The campaign should paint gays as superior pillars of society.
5] MAKE THE VICTIMIZERS LOOK BAD.
At a later stage of the media campaign for gay rights-long after other gay ads have become commonplace-it will be time to get tough with remaining opponents. To be blunt, they must be vilified.
[6] SOLICIT FUNDS: THE BUCK STOPS HERE
Any massive campaign of this kind would require unprecedented expenditures for months or even years--an unprecedented fundraising drive.
The appeal should be directed both at gays and at straights who care about social justice.
7 GETTING ON THE AIR, OR, YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE.
So what can be done to crash the gates of the major media? Several things, advanced in several stages.
VISUAL STAGE 1: YOU REALLY OUGHTTA BE IN PICTURES
- encourage the appearance of favorable gay characters in films and TV shows
- run gays for office symbolically in order to get gay ads on tv, so that people can quickly get over their initial shock
VISUAL STAGE 2: PEEKABOO ADVERTISING
-promote bland messages about America the Melting Pot, ending with "this message is brought to you by National Gay Task Force
-propose sympathetic media appeals for gifts and donations to fund AIDS research
VISUAL STAGE 3: ROLL OUT THE BIG GUNS
- Time to bring the blatantly gay ads out of the closet using testimonials, celebrity endorsements and victim sympathy as well as vilifying the opposition
I found an outline of the book which someone posted online which in and of itself further lays out the strategy:
http://www.parentsofgaychildren.org/uplo..._Cohen.pdf