Law Commons^™

Gay Movements And Legal Change: Some Aspects Of The Dynamics Of A Social Problem, Steven F. Cohn, James E. Gallagher

Sociology School Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines public opinion and media coverage surrounding four important events which affected the development of homosexual rights in Maine in the 1970s: the birth of a homosexual student group on a University of Maine campus and the conference it organized; the adoption of a gay rights plank in the election platform of the state's Democratic Party; revisions to the state's criminal code which decriminalized homosexual activities; and a second conference organized by the student group. Only the first event aroused major public outcry. We describe these events in detail, examine how the media covered them, and analyze why …