When people today think about milestones in the battles for gay rights, they usually think of the 1966 transgender demonstrations in San Francisco, or the 1969 Stonewall protests in New York City, or many others.
But everyone seems to forget about the Normal Heart controversy in Springfield, Missouri in the fall of 1989.
I won't forget, because I was there for most of it, just off of the front lines.
To be clear I wasn't involved in the play, nor was I a student. But I was living in a studio apartment on campus at the time, and spent most of my time hanging out with friends who were students there. Back then MSU was called Southwest Missouri State University, or SMSU. The local joke was that those letters stood for Students Money Spent Unwisely, and the school was nicknamed It's a Mess U.
I don't know anything about that. I just knew it was a fun place to hang out, especially when you were broke.
Another place I spent a lot of time back then was Phelps Grove Park. Phelps Grove was between the college and my old highschool. Many of my friends lived in the area, and hung out there.
At night Phelps Grove became the gay park.
When the Normal Heart Controversy hit us, Phelps Grove was ground zero.
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A Normal Heart in the Queen City
RandomIn the fall of 1989, Missouri State University put on a production of A Normal Heart, a play that discussed homosexuality and Aids. Springfield state representative Jean Dixon formed Citizens Demanding Standards to cancel the play. For a while we we...
