• The Nuclear Family •

Homosexuality and gender nonconformity have always been the subject of scrutiny and antagonism in America. From sodomy and crossdressing laws [1] enacted in the 19th century to "gay-bashing" [2] and other forms of violence, homophobia has run rampant throughout all facets of American culture since the country’s inception. It was perhaps most prevalent in the latter half of the 20th century, as individuals who had been simply ostracized in earlier years became pursued more aggressively. 

One of the biggest reasons for this sudden upswing in hostility was the intentional switch of image in 1950s America. As tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. solidified into the decades-long Cold War, politicians and industrialists became eager to create an idealized version of the American family. And the image of the “nuclear family” (a term originated in the 1920s) fit that bill. There was to be a husband who wore suits and had a well-respected corporate job, a doting stay at home wife who cooked meals every night in their suburban home, and an indeterminate number of young children who were the spitting image of their parents. They were to be white, middle-class, self-made and therefore capitalist, patriotic, Christian, romantic but unerotic, and obviously heterosexual.