The Facts Were These...

Peyton / 27 / Florida 💗Kindness Always Wins💗 (previously myrazzledazzledlife & froggieofficial & ghoulscouts)

[achillesinhighheels]

Come with me we’re going laughing

[sua-sponte-deactivated20200331]

I’m watching that documentary “Before Stonewall” about gay history pre-1969, and uncovered something which I think is interesting.

The documentary includes a brief clip of a 1954 televised newscast about the rise of homosexuality. The host of the program interviewed psychologists, a police officer, and one “known homosexual”. The “known homosexual” is 22 years old. He identifies himself as Curtis White, which is a pseudonym; his name is actually Dale Olson.

So I tracked down the newscast. According to what I can find, Dale Olson may have been the first gay man to appear openly on television and defend his sexual orientation. He explains that there’s nothing wrong with him mentally and he’s never been arrested. When asked whether he’d take a cure if it existed, he says no. When asked whether his family knows he’s gay, he says that they didn’t up until tonight, but he guesses they’re going to find out, and he’ll probably be fired from his job as well. So of course the host is like …why are you doing this interview then? and Dale Olson, cool as cucumber pie, says “I think that this way I can be a little useful to someone besides myself.”

1954. 22 years old. Balls of pure titanium.

Despite the pseudonym, Dale’s boss did indeed recognize him from the TV program, and he was promptly fired the next day. He wrote into ONE magazine six months later to reassure readers that he had gotten a new job at a higher salary.

Curious about what became of him, I looked into his life a little further. It turns out that he ultimately became a very successful publicity agent. He promoted the Rocky movies and Superman. Not only that, but get this: Dale represented Rock Hudson, and he was the person who convinced him to disclose that he had AIDS! He wrote the statement Rock read. And as we know, Rock Hudson’s disclosure had a very significant effect on the national conversation about AIDS in the U.S.

It appears that no one has made the connection between Dale Olson the publicity agent instrumental in the AIDS debate and Dale Olson the 22-year-old first openly gay man on TV. So I thought I’d make it. For Pride month, an unsung gay hero.

[is-the-post-reliable]

RATING: RELIABLE

you can listen to the clip of the 1954 interview here and find him on wikipedia here

[happyheidi]

𝖣𝖾𝗇𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗄 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗌 𝖿𝗅𝗈𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝖽𝖿𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗋 𝗂𝗌𝗅𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖻𝗈𝗋𝗌 - 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝖺𝖿𝖾 𝗎𝗋𝖻𝖺𝗇 𝗌𝖺𝗇𝖼𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖻𝗂𝗋𝖽𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗌. x

[gifs-of-puppets]

Bear in the Big Blue House (1997-2006)

[ilya-rozanova]

heated rivalry: endless gifs

[hilema]

If we were tectonic plates would you grind against me be honest

[ilyasmole]

A WHOLE MONTH SINCE THE LAST SET OF SHITPOST BLINKIES??? my sincerest apologies. i hope there is at least one here that u connect with on a spiritual level. again, if anything confuses you, taking a peruse through my #fandom joy tag might be a good place to go find answers. as always feel free to save & use!

[freakoutgirl]

People are always so worried about declining birth rates like genuinely why would I give a shit

[shanesbian]

in s2 im hoping to see ilya driving really fast in his faggiest sports car

[themoonandmyman]

Carter Vaughn initially didn’t even see the Scott/Kip kiss despite being on the ice. He was on FaceTime with his sister Noelle while she was housesitting for him so he could tell his rats he won the Stanley Cup

[gaysie]

[amazoogle]

tuesday status?

[cognitohazardous]

yup. its tuesday 👍

[amazoogle]

copy. tuesday confirmed ✅ engaging tuesday protocol

[flutterbvnny]

daddy has regretfully informed kitten that we need a dual income household to survive

[eightyonextwentyfour]

[freakoutgirl]

This is the skin picking that will really fix me this time

[shanesbian]

in s2 im hoping to see ilya driving really fast in his faggiest sports car

[dollribbons]

cute little cow baby in a field of red flowers