Gay Rights In The 1970's

In the 1970’s there were many events that changed the path of history, the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon’s resignation after the Water Gate scandal, the emergence of the hippies, and women’s rights movement, but we will be focusing on the gay rights movement and how it affected America and paved the way for a different future. “The Man I Love” was a song originally written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1927, long before the sexual revolution, but was covered by Zebedy Colt, in 1970, which gave the song a gay twist to it. We will discuss the meaning of this song as sung by a male, and the influence it had in the 70’s. “The Man I Love” was made popular by Ella Fitzgerald, an American jazz singer, in 1959, and since then it has been covered by many singers, mostly female, until Edward Earle Marsh, commonly known by his stage name as Zebedy Colt, covered it in the middle of the sexual revolution. Because of that …show more content…
With lyrics like, “Someday he'll come along, The man I love, And he'll be big and strong”, would not be rare for a woman to sing in the 1970’s but for a man it was very rare to see. Marsh sang this and was very open about his sexuality, although he did use a stage name in Zebedy Colt, it is still exceptionally brave in a time where America was still mainly homophobic. This opened many doors for other homosexual artists to express themselves and gave them courage. Much like Oscar Wilde opened the door for the gay community, Marsh gave gay artists a major stepping stone. “Maybe I shall meet him Sunday, Maybe Monday, maybe not, Still I'm sure to meet him one day, Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day”, this quote resonates with the 70’s because it shows patience, a characteristic shown all throughout the decade with the many peaceful protests arranged by the hippies against the Vietnam War, and with women’s rights