The New York Times December 1990: Michelangelo Signorile reports how an editor's seizure marks a turning point for the newspaper of record. (Changing perceptions).On December 21, 1990, Jeff Schmalz schmaltz also schmalz n. 1. Informal a. Excessively sentimental art or music. b. Maudlin sentimentality. 2. Liquid fat, especially chicken fat. , an assistant national editor at The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times, had a grand mal seizure grand mal seizure n. A sudden attack or convulsion characterized by generalized muscle spasms and loss of consciousness; it is recurrent in grand mal. Also called generalized tonic-clonic seizure. in the paper's newsroom. Horrifying as it was, the event marked a turning point for Schmalz, for the nation's newspaper of record, and for the entire gay and lesbian civil rights movement. Throughout the 1970s and `80s Times executive editor Abe Rosenthal For people with the same name, please see Abraham Rosenthal Abraham 'Abe' Rosenthal was an English football player who spent the majority of his career playing for Tranmere Rovers and Bradford City. He retired from playing in 1956. refused to allow reporters even to use the word gay when writing about homosexuals. He frowned upon coverage of lesbian and gay culture, thereby all but ignoring the AIDS epidemic in its burgeoning years. Under Rosenthal the Times newsroom was a hostile place for gays, many of whom feared the editor and remained closeted clos·et·ed adj. Being In a state of secrecy or cautious privacy. . Rosenthal's brand of homophobia became institutionalized in·sti·tu·tion·al·ize tr.v. in·sti·tu·tion·al·ized, in·sti·tu·tion·al·iz·ing, in·sti·tu·tion·al·iz·es 1. a. To make into, treat as, or give the character of an institution to. b. , outliving his stepping down in 1986. But Schmalz's seizure, a symptom of his battle with AIDS, brought the realities of the disease and homosexuality into the newsroom at a time when the political issues surrounding both were erupting on the streets and beyond. A 17-year Times veteran at the time, Schmalz was a close friend of the new publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Arthur Sulzberger can refer to:
His legacy lives on: The Times became one of the greatest champions of gay rights in the 1990s under editorial page editor Howell Raines. Now executive editor, Raines this year announced that the Times would join the growing number of papers that print same-sex commitment ceremony announcements alongside its wedding notices. Things would have changed one way or another, no doubt. But it often takes a dramatic event to jump-start a movement, Jeff Schmalz's seizure was that kind of catalyst. Signorile is the author of Life Outside and Outing Yourself. |
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