Steps Forward
The 1970s contained many huge steps forward for the queer community (including Torch Song Trilogy!) which laid the groundwork for much of contemporary gay culture. Many of the steps forward fell into two major categories - media and representation, and legal protections.
Media and representation
Below is a brief selection of some of the steps forward in media and representation for the queer community in the 1970s.
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There were several big successes in film. The Boys in the Band, which had originally been a Broadway play, was adapted into a movie in 1970. It is considered to be the first major motion picture that revolves around gay characters. Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) was also noted for its depiction of successful and well-adjusted gay men. Cabaret (1972) even celebrated gay men! On a lower-brow note, That Certain Summer (1972) was the first made-for-television movie to feature gay characters. Many contemporary movies and TV shows about queer people can trace their genealogy to these shows.
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The start of the contemporary gay rights movement also happened in the 1970s. The first Pride Parade took place in 1970 on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, though it was then known as Christopher Street Liberation Day. Harvey Milk is well known for becoming the first openly gay elected official in California in 1977, but before him, Kathy Kozachenko, a lesbian on Ann Arbor City Council, became the first openly queer person to be elected to public office in 1972. The well-known rainbow pride flag debuted in 1978, shortly before the National March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights in 1979, which drew about 100,000 people.
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Legal Protections
Along with the steps forward in media and representation, the LGBT community started receiving legal protections for the first time in the 1970s. The American Psychiatric Association officially removed homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders, meaning somebody could not be institutionalized against their will for being gay. 40 towns and cities and 120 major​ companies banned discrimination based on sexual orientation - although, importantly for this play, New York City was not among these. In addition, 22 states decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual activity in the 1970s. The state of New York didn't decriminalize same-sex sexual activity until 1980. Interestingly, in 1977, the Supreme Court ruled that Renee Richards, a trans woman, was allowed to compete professionally as a woman in tennis. As trans rights, especially the right to compete in sports, come under fire again, it's important to remember the battles we have already fought and won. ​
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The International Stud was part of this huge wave of progress for the LGBT community. As Fierstein built on his predecessors' successes, he also paved the way for even more human representations of queer people and their greater visibility in the public sphere.
