Hollywood's homophobia: March 26, 1991.

As The Advocate explores the "degaying" of Hollywood films in the current issue, an Advocate investigation from 13 years ago reveals how persistent the issue has been. Back then journalist James Ryan described the ways in which lesbians and gays were being written out of the picture: "Homophobia comes into play at every step of the studio filmmaking process," he said. "It begins with screenwriters and producers who shy away from gay-oriented projects, knowing they will receive the brush-off."

Hollywood's professional closet was also having an effect. "People in the industry ... are nervous at times to push a gay or lesbian theme, thinking that they would be identified as gay or lesbian because of it," one television writer explained.

But openly gay studio head David Geffen retorted that the reluctance to portray gay people was based more on commerce than homophobia. "There isn't as big an audience for [gay stories]," he said.