The mediated society. Mass media and American society ; Television as the mainstream ; Sexual minorities and the media ; Subversion and resistance.
Coming out and coming together. The homosexual in midcentury America ; Giving voice to the voiceless ; Provoking concern ; The voice gets louder ; Coming out in the nation's living rooms.
Stonewall and beyond. "Homo nest raided, queen bees stinging mad" ; "Turning their condition into politics" ; Expressing outrage ; Talking back to the media.
At the movies. "A queer feeling every time I look at you" ; "Show me a happy homosexual and I'll show you a gay corpse" ; Friedkin delivers gay corpses ; Getting the word out ; Gay films for straight audiences ; Universal or particular?
Television takes over. New medium, old message ; No sex, please, we're queer.
AIDS and the media. Rumors of a "gay cancer" ; Circling the wagons ; Natural squeamishness ; Media activism in a crisis.


Journalism's closet opens. Burying and marrying ; All the news not fit to print ; The gray lady goes gay ; Coming out in the newsroom.
Breaking the code of silence. Naming names ; Outing the Pentagon ; Kinda ask, sorta tell.
Hollywood under pressure. AIDS victims and villains ; A kinder, gentler Hollywood ; Queering the "straight" text.
Hollywood's gay nineties. "I feel pretty and witty and... Hey!" ; Still villainous after all these years ; Sad young men ; Some of my best friends are celibate.
Beyond prime time. Adam and Steve and Phil and Oprah ; The tongue-tied public square ; Getting over the rainbow ; Locker-room closets.
Morning papers, afternoons soaps. Coming out in the comics ; You're the first person I have told.
Old stories and new technologies. The good parts ; Somewhere there's a place for us.
A niche of our own. Movement to market ; Are we being served?
Facing the future. Visibility and its discontents ; Looking backward.