Beginning in the late 1980s, mass attitudes in the U.S. shifted dramatically toward greater tolerance of LGBTQ people and greater support of gay rights. What accounts for this rapid and sustained shift? Jeremiah Garretson examines a number of factors, including the AIDS crisis, grassroots activism, news coverage, fictional portrayals of gays and lesbians on TV, and interpersonal contact.
Jeremiah Garretson, The Path to Gay Rights: How Activism and Coming Out Changed Public Opinion NYU Press, 2018