List of pre-Stonewall American television episodes with LGBT themes
Encyclopedia
Most American television episodes with LGBT themes that aired before the 1969 Stonewall riots
were on various local talk show
s. Generally, these shows would gravely discuss the "problem" of homosexuality with a panel of "experts" on the subject, none of whom were identified as homosexual. These included such programs as Confidential File out of Los Angeles, which produced "Homosexuals and the Problems They Present" in 1954 and "Homosexuals Who Stalk and Molest Our Children" in 1955, and The Open Mind out of New York which aired "Introduction to the Problem of Homosexuality", "Homosexuality: A Psychological Approach" and "Male and Female in American Society" during its 1956–1957 season. One notable exception to this rule was Showcase, hosted out of New York by author Fannie Hurst
beginning in 1958. Showcase presented several of the earliest well-rounded discussions of homosexuality and was one of the few programs on which homosexual men spoke for themselves rather than being debated by a panel of "experts". Hurst was praised by early homophile
group the Mattachine Society
, which invited Hurst to deliver the keynote address at the Society's 1958 convention.
A brief break from this pattern came in 1961 with the production of The Rejected
, the first documentary program on homosexuality aired on American television. The Rejected presented information on such topics as the Kinsey Reports
and featured anthropologist Margaret Mead
discussing homosexuality in ancient Greece and among Native American cultures. A representative from the Mattachine Society also appeared on-air. However, the old model quickly re-emerged with such broadcasts as "Society and the Homosexual" in 1962 from the Los Angeles-based Argument and Chicago's Off the Cuff, which in 1963 presented a discussion of lesbianism with an all-male panel. CBS
became the first national network to broadcast a documentary hour, in 1967. CBS Reports: The Homosexuals
featured men interviewed in shadow and from behind potted plants to conceal their identities and anti-gay psychologists Charles Socarides
and Irving Bieber
in a broadcast that has been described as "the single most destructive hour of antigay propaganda in our nation's history".
During the 1960s, a few fiction series broached the subject obliquely, with "coded" or repressed lesbians like Miss Brant from 1961's The Asphalt Jungle or discussion of characters who may or may not have been gay like Channing
' s Buddy Crown in 1963. Those episodes that featured identified lesbian or gay characters tended to present them as either victims or killers. Following the 1969 Stonewall riots
, a seminal event in the American gay rights movement, gay activist groups began speaking out more forcefully, challenging how homosexuality was portrayed on-screen.
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
were on various local talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s. Generally, these shows would gravely discuss the "problem" of homosexuality with a panel of "experts" on the subject, none of whom were identified as homosexual. These included such programs as Confidential File out of Los Angeles, which produced "Homosexuals and the Problems They Present" in 1954 and "Homosexuals Who Stalk and Molest Our Children" in 1955, and The Open Mind out of New York which aired "Introduction to the Problem of Homosexuality", "Homosexuality: A Psychological Approach" and "Male and Female in American Society" during its 1956–1957 season. One notable exception to this rule was Showcase, hosted out of New York by author Fannie Hurst
Fannie Hurst
Fannie Hurst was an American novelist. Although her books are not well remembered today, during her lifetime some of her more famous novels were Stardust , Lummox , A President is Born , Back Street , and Imitation of Life...
beginning in 1958. Showcase presented several of the earliest well-rounded discussions of homosexuality and was one of the few programs on which homosexual men spoke for themselves rather than being debated by a panel of "experts". Hurst was praised by early homophile
Homophile
The word homophile is an alternative to the word for homosexual or gay. The homophile movement also refers to the gay rights movement of the 1950s and '60s....
group the Mattachine Society
Mattachine Society
The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s Society for Human Rights . Harry Hay and a group of Los Angeles male friends formed the group to protect and improve the rights of homosexuals...
, which invited Hurst to deliver the keynote address at the Society's 1958 convention.
A brief break from this pattern came in 1961 with the production of The Rejected
The Rejected
The Rejected is a documentary film about homosexuality, produced for KQED in San Francisco by John W. Reavis,The Rejected was the first documentary program on homosexuality broadcast on American television. It initially ran on September 11, 1961, and was later syndicated to National Educational...
, the first documentary program on homosexuality aired on American television. The Rejected presented information on such topics as the Kinsey Reports
Kinsey Reports
The Kinsey Reports are two books on human sexual behavior, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female , by Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy and others and published by Saunders...
and featured anthropologist Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
discussing homosexuality in ancient Greece and among Native American cultures. A representative from the Mattachine Society also appeared on-air. However, the old model quickly re-emerged with such broadcasts as "Society and the Homosexual" in 1962 from the Los Angeles-based Argument and Chicago's Off the Cuff, which in 1963 presented a discussion of lesbianism with an all-male panel. CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
became the first national network to broadcast a documentary hour, in 1967. CBS Reports: The Homosexuals
CBS Reports: The Homosexuals
"The Homosexuals" is a 1967 episode of the documentary television series CBS Reports. The hour-long broadcast featured a discussion of a number of topics related to homosexuality and homosexuals. Mike Wallace anchored the episode, which aired on March 7, 1967...
featured men interviewed in shadow and from behind potted plants to conceal their identities and anti-gay psychologists Charles Socarides
Charles Socarides
Charles W. Socarides was an American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, physician, educator, and author. Socarides was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. Socarides focused much of his career on the study of homosexuality, which he believed can be altered...
and Irving Bieber
Irving Bieber
Irving Bieber was an American psychoanalyst, best known for his 1962 study, Homosexuality: A Psychoanalytic Study of Male Homosexuals, which was written jointly with Harvey J. Dain, Paul R. Dince, Marvin G. Drellich, Henry G. Grand, Ralph R. Gundlach, Malvina W. Kremer, Alfred H. Rifkin, Cornelia...
in a broadcast that has been described as "the single most destructive hour of antigay propaganda in our nation's history".
During the 1960s, a few fiction series broached the subject obliquely, with "coded" or repressed lesbians like Miss Brant from 1961's The Asphalt Jungle or discussion of characters who may or may not have been gay like Channing
Channing (TV series)
Channing is an American drama series that aired on American Broadcasting Company from September 18, 1963 to April 8, 1964...
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
, a seminal event in the American gay rights movement, gay activist groups began speaking out more forcefully, challenging how homosexuality was portrayed on-screen.
Episodes
| Series | Network or Station |
Episode | Year | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents Alfred Hitchcock Presents Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades... |
NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... |
"An Unlocked Window" | 1965 | A transvestite strangles nurses to death. The killer was portrayed by professional female impersonator T. C. Jones T. C. Jones Thomas Craig "T. C." Jones was an American female impersonator. He was known for his impersonations of stars such as Tallulah Bankhead, Judy Garland, Katharine Hepburn and others... . |
| — | WTVS WTVS WTVS, branded as Detroit Public TV, is the Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station in Detroit, Michigan. Broadcasting since 1955, its vision statement is "educate, entertain and inspire — in partnership with our community." The viewer supported station produces many local... |
Are Homosexuals Criminal? | 1958 | Local program produced in Detroit, Michigan. |
| Argument | KTTV KTTV KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station... |
"Society and the Homosexual" | 1962 | One of the few talk show entries that included a discussion of lesbianism, including an actual lesbian panelist. |
| Army-McCarthy hearings Army-McCarthy Hearings The Army–McCarthy hearings were a series of hearings held by the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations between April 1954 and June 1954. The hearings were held for the purpose of investigating conflicting accusations between the United States Army and Senator Joseph McCarthy... |
ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... and DuMont DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont... |
1954 | Although focusing in the main on the supposed threat of Communists in the United States Army, the hearings also addressed the issue of homosexuality as a security risk. Special Counsel for the Army Joseph Welch Joseph Welch Joseph Nye Welch was the head counsel for the United States Army while it was under investigation by Joseph McCarthy's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for Communist activities, an investigation known as the Army-McCarthy Hearings.- Early life :Welch was born in Primghar, Iowa on... engaged in gay baiting when he defined a pixie Pixie Pixies are mythical creatures of folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name.They are usually depicted with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed... as being "a close relative of a fairy". "Fairy" is a slang term for "homosexual" and Welch's remark was interpreted as a jibe at Roy Cohn Roy Cohn Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S... , a closeted Closeted Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th... homosexual and aide to Senator Joseph McCarthy Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957... . |
|
| The Asphalt Jungle | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
"The Sniper" | 1961 | Miss Brant (Virginia Christine Virginia Christine Virginia Christine was an American film and television actress and voice artist. Christine had a long career as a character actress in film and television. She played "Mrs... ) is a repressed lesbian who shoots girls on lovers' lane for making themselves available to boys. |
| CBS Playhouse | CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... |
"Secrets" | 1968 | A mother (Eileen Heckart Eileen Heckart Eileen Heckart was an American actress of stage, screen, and television.-Early life:Heckart was born Anna Eileen Heckart in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Esther and Leo Herbert. She was legally adopted by her grandfather, J.W. Heckart. Her family was of Irish and German descent... ) is on trial for murdering her gay son and a man (Arthur Hill Arthur Hill (actor) Arthur Edward Spence Hill was a Canadian actor best known for appearances in British and American theater, movies and television... ) refuses to say why he cannot serve on the jury. A supporting character, Cary (Barry Nelson Barry Nelson Barry Nelson was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.-Early life:... ), may be gay. |
| The Bold Ones: The Lawyers The Bold Ones: The Lawyers The Bold Ones: The Lawyers is an American legal drama that aired for three season on NBC from December 1968 through February 1972.-Synopsis:... |
NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... |
"Shriek of Silence" | 1969 | Barry Goram (Morgan Sterne) murders gubernatorial candidate and long-time friend Stephen Patterson (Craig Stevens Craig Stevens (actor) Craig Stevens was an American motion picture and television actor.-Early and personal life:Born Gail Shikles, Jr., in Liberty, Missouri, his father was a high school teacher.... ) after Patterson discovers Goram is gay and fires him from his campaign staff. |
| CBS Reports CBS Reports CBS Reports is the umbrella title used for documentaries by CBS News which aired starting in 1959 through the 1990s. The series sometimes aired as a wheel series rotating with 60 Minutes , as a series of its own or as specials. The program aired as a constant series from 1959 to 1971... |
CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... |
"CBS Reports: The Homosexuals CBS Reports: The Homosexuals "The Homosexuals" is a 1967 episode of the documentary television series CBS Reports. The hour-long broadcast featured a discussion of a number of topics related to homosexuality and homosexuals. Mike Wallace anchored the episode, which aired on March 7, 1967... " |
1967 | The first network documentary about homosexuality. Gay men were interviewed in shadow and from behind potted plants. The episode was widely condemned, and anchor Mike Wallace Mike Wallace (journalist) Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers.... later repudiated his participation. |
| Channing Channing (TV series) Channing is an American drama series that aired on American Broadcasting Company from September 18, 1963 to April 8, 1964... |
ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
"The Last Testament of Buddy Crown" | 1963 | Buddy drowns while trying to swim across a lake. His father (David Wayne David Wayne David Wayne was an American actor with a career spanning nearly 50 years.-Early life and career:... ) believed Buddy was homosexual and Buddy was taunted by his peers for being different, although the episode does not specifically identify Buddy as having been gay. |
| Confession | WFAA-TV WFAA-TV WFAA, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, one of the top ten media markets in North America. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation and the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network... |
1957 | Local program produced out of Dallas; a 1957 episode featured an interview with a transvestite. | |
| Confidential File | KTTV KTTV KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station... Syndicated |
"Homosexuals and the Problems They Present" "Homosexuals Who Stalk and Molest Our Children" Title unrecorded |
1954 1955 1962 |
Host Paul Coates Paul Coates Paul V. Coates was an American print and television journalist. He was known for his popular daily newspaper column and as the host of the syndicated tabloid-style television series Confidential File, developed by Coates and Irvin Kershner .Coates suffered a massive stroke in 1966 which left the... was praised in Variety Variety (magazine) Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the... following the first episode for his tasteful treatment of the topic. The 1962 episode, covering the 1962 convention of the Daughters of Bilitis Daughters of Bilitis The Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment... , aired after Confidential File became syndicated nationally and is probably the first national broadcast that specifically covered lesbianism. |
| The David Susskind Show | Syndicated | "Are Homosexuals Sick?" | 1967 | Susskind did indeed believe that homosexuals were mentally ill but also believed that they should be treated with compassion and not punished for it. |
| The Eleventh Hour The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series) The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:... |
NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... |
"What Did She Mean By Good Luck?" | 1963 | High-strung actress Hallie Lambert (Kathryn Hays Kathryn Hays Kathryn Hays is an American actress. She was born in Princeton, Illinois and grew up in Joliet, Illinois.In the 1966-1967 television season, Hays appeared as Elizabeth Reynolds Pride in the NBC western series The Road West, with co-stars Barry Sullivan, Andrew Prine, Kelly Corcoran, and Glenn... ) is diagnosed by her psychiatrist with "lesbian tendencies". She believes her director Marya Stone (Beverly Garland Beverly Garland Beverly Garland was an American film and television actress, businesswoman, and hotel owner. Garland gained prominence for her role as Fred MacMurray's second wife, "Barbara Harper Douglas", in the 1960s sitcom My Three Sons... ) hates her, but her psychiatrist realizes that Lambert is actually in love with Stone and channeling her confusion into hostility. |
| FYI | WTVJ WTVJ WTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north... |
"The Homosexual" | 1966 | Locally produced program that came out "against the homosexual child molester and toward the parent who never thought it could happen to his or her son". Guests included representatives of the Dade County Sheriff's Department, the Florida legislature and Richard Inman, president of the Mattachine Society of Florida. |
| The Joe Pyne Show Joe Pyne Joe Pyne was an American radio and television talk show host, who pioneered the confrontational style in which the host advocates a viewpoint and argues with guests and audience members... |
Syndicated | Title unrecorded | 1967 | Pyne interviewed couple and early gay rights activists Harry Hay Harry Hay Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr. was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.Hay was exposed early in... and John Burnside John Burnside (inventor) John Lyon Burnside III was the inventor of the teleidoscope, the darkfield kaleidoscope and the Symmetricon, and, because he rediscovered the math behind kaleidoscope optics, for decades, every maker of optically correct kaleidoscopes sold in the US paid him royalties... . |
| Judd, for the Defense Judd, for the Defense Judd, for the Defense is an American legal drama originally broadcast on the ABC network on Friday nights from September 8, 1967, to September 19, 1969.-Synopsis:... |
ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
"Weep the Hunter Home" | 1968 | A father (Harold Gould Harold Gould Harold V. Goldstein , best known by his stage name Harold Gould, was an American actor best known for playing Martin Morgenstern in the 1970s sitcoms Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show and as Miles Webber in The Golden Girls... ) fears that his son's best friend (Peter Jason Peter Jason Peter Jason is an American actor who performs in many plays, movies, and TV commercials, including Desperate Housewives and Deadwood. In his free time he makes his own furniture out of wood. He has appeared in 12 Walter Hill films, 7 John Carpenter films, has acted in over 100 commercials and... ) is a homosexual and that he is trying to turn his son (Richard Dreyfuss Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About... ) gay. The boys are mixed up in a phony kidnapping scheme. |
| Kup's Show | WBKB | Title unrecorded | 1964 | Host Irv Kupcinet Irv Kupcinet Irv Kupcinet was an American newspaper columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and a broadcast personality based in Chicago, Illinois... devoted an episode to a conference held by the Chicago chapter of the Mattachine Society. |
| The Les Crane Show | WABC-TV WABC-TV WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State... |
Title unrecorded | 1964 | Host Les Crane Les Crane Les Crane , born Lesley Stein, was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored a spoken word hit with his 1971 recording of the poem Desiderata, winning a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy.Born in Long Beach, New York , Crane... interviewed gay activist Randy Wicker Randy Wicker Randolfe Hayden "Randy" Wicker is an American author, activist and blogger. After involvement in the early homophile and gay liberation movements, Wicker became active around the issue of human cloning.... , who also took telephone calls from viewers. |
| Max Liebman Presents | NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... |
"Lady in the Dark Lady in the Dark Lady in the Dark is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis... " |
1954 |  Carleton Carpenter Carleton Carpenter is an American movie/television/stage actor, a magician, author and songwriter.... ), a staff photographer, oohs and aahs over an attractive male movie star just like the office girls do. Russell is perhaps the first identifiably gay character on American television. |
| N.Y.P.D. | ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
"Shakedown" "Everybody Loved Him" |
1967 1969 |
 Homophile The word homophile is an alternative to the word for homosexual or gay. The homophile movement also refers to the gay rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.... leader Charles Spad (John Harkins) is most likely the first self-identified gay character on broadcast television. James Broderick James Broderick James Joseph Broderick III was an American actor.-Life and career:Broderick was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire, the son of Mary Elizabeth and James Joseph Broderick, Jr.... plays a gay construction worker. In "Everybody Loved Him", a successful film producer is murdered by a closeted and psychotic elevator operator (Walter McGinn). |
| Off the Cuff | WBKB WBBM-TV WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history... |
"Homosexuality and Lesbianism" | 1963 | Local talk show produced in Chicago. |
| The Open Mind The Open Mind (talk show) The Open Mind is a long-running half-hour public affairs interview show. First broadcast in May 1956 over WRCA television in New York City, it currently originates from the studios of the CUNY Graduate Center and airs on public broadcasting stations nationwide... |
WRCA WNBC WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan... |
"Introduction to the Problem of Homosexuality" "Homosexuality: A Psychological Approach" "Male and Female in American Society" |
1956 1956 1957 |
Local talk show produced in New York City. The episodes covered topics including whether homosexuality should be treated as a criminal or a medical matter, nature vs. nurture as the cause of homosexuality and how society indoctrinates young people into gender roles. According to host Richard Heffner Richard Heffner Richard Douglas Heffner is the creator and host of The Open Mind, a public affairs television show first broadcast in 1956. He is a University Professor of Communications and Public Policy at Rutgers University and also teaches an honors seminar at New York University... , after the first episode Cardinal Francis Spellman threatened to have NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... affiliate WRCA's broadcasting license revoved. |
| — | KQED, later syndicated to NET National Educational Television National Educational Television was an American non-commercial educational public television network in the United States from May 16, 1954 to October 4, 1970... stations |
The Rejected The Rejected The Rejected is a documentary film about homosexuality, produced for KQED in San Francisco by John W. Reavis,The Rejected was the first documentary program on homosexuality broadcast on American television. It initially ran on September 11, 1961, and was later syndicated to National Educational... |
1961 |  |
| Showcase | WABD WNYW WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan... WNTA-TV WNET WNET, channel 13 is a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the New York metropolitan area, WNET is a primary station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming... |
Untitled Untitled "Problems of the Teenager Who Doesn't Fit" Untitled |
1958 1959 1959 1959 |
1) A general discussion of male homosexuality. Hurst planned a second show for the following day on lesbians but moments before going on the air WABD management ordered her panel not to discuss the topic. Hurst angrily excoriated station management on the air for what she saw as censorship. Following this and other clashes with the station, Hurst moved her show to WNTA. 2) Another introductory discussion of the topic of homosexuality. 3) Homosexual youth. Showcase was cancelled shortly after this episode aired, in April 1959, although it is unclear whether it was this episode that led to the cancellation. 4) Discussion of psychological and sociological aspects of homosexuality. |
See also
- List of 1970s American television episodes with LGBT themes
- List of 1980s American television episodes with LGBT themes
- List of American television episodes with LGBT themes, 1990-1997
- Lists of television programs with LGBT characters