After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90's

by Marshall Kirk, Hunter Madsen

After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90's

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, LGBT, Sexuality, Queer, Society

442 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 1989

Reviews

[booklady]

I just learned about this book as a result of watching the video "Speechless: Silencing Christians". Did you know this book was written to teach homosexuals how to conduct a publicity and "recognition" campaign using PC speech, the media, and other information management techniques? I know, I know; it sounds a little like I must exaggerating. After you watch this, however, you may think I'm understating the case.

[Christopher Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hard book to get, and expensive if you can find it. Since I read this book 3 years ago, I have read a good many other books by Leftists, and have come to understand their agenda and tactics in a much more solid way. This book uses deception and lies, and the authors urge their allies to lie and cover certain things up. Some of the key points I wish to point out from this book:

1- It is openly admitted that homosexuality is often a choice.

2-that those in their 20s, 30s, etc. groom younger males to join the homosexual lifestyle. This is what the entire sexual abuse scandal among Catholic priests was, homosexual priests preying on teenage boys or young adult seminarians. That crisis was not a pedophile crisis, but a homosexual crisis.

3-that excessive masturbation/sexual addiction can lead to homosexuality

4-that they must keep that as under wraps as well as possible, forward the idea that it is a “born that way” reality, turning themselves into victims which will inevitably lead to straight white males feeling a need to protect the victim.

5- and this is one of the most important things. They decry the use of “homophobia” as that is an extremely rare phenomenon, but prefer the truly more accurate word “homo-hate(r)”. In their copious discussion on homohatred, I realized that they had a point; many of those people that I had counted as allies were in fact homohaters.

We are called to love, not condemn same-sex attracted individuals. We need to love them and desire their conversion and salvation, not hate them and condemn them to hell. Lord knows I have my sins I struggle with, and if I die in the sins with which I struggle, I also will be damned. And I cannot claim my culpability in my personal sin is not greater than yours, or any other person. We must love and reach out in kindness, not hate and spew condemnation.

6-in this book they outline a PR strategy, which obviously came to be used to great effect.

7-they ask for the MANBLA crowd to separate from the other homosexuals during this leg of the culture war, until they win their victories, and then they can rejoin and win the pedophile leg of the war.

The more I read Leftist literature, I hear from the horses mouth, their depravity, their affinity to Marxism and its derivatives, and their hatred of all things that are clear according to natural law. This was a sometimes gross read, but it was a necessary read. By the time I read it, the LGBTQ+ agenda had accomplished all and more than what was set out in this book in the 1980s. The Left seem to be way better organized. We need to wake up and pull ourselves together.

[Derek Kunhee Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The masterprint of the LGBT movement in a nutshell. Prophetic and haunting. The authors are experts at emotional manipulation, admitting so throughout the book. Again, I found it terrifying how prophetic this book was in terms of how far progressive America has come in "accepting" what was once widely understood as a contorted sexuality. A must-read for anyone who wants to truly understand the impetus of this movement.

[Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

A game plan on how to sell homosexuality to America. Shows that the drive for acceptance of homosexuality has been partly a marketing campaign to make homosexuality appear normal.

[Hank Stuever · Rating 4 out of 5]

My lasting memory of this book is that it felt absolutely necessary at the time, and lent me some of the articulation and rhetorical tools I would need as a young man coming out of the closet and into the 1990s. It wasn't a call to political action so much as a call toward a sensibility. It's possible I could go find a copy (lost mine) and discover that what's in it either doesn't hold up or doesn't matter anymore. But at that moment, at age 21, it felt like desperately essential (and reassuring) reading.

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So amazing. The authors provide frank advice to the gay community and suggest that some tough love is in order to win our rights. Written in 1989 they suggest a widespread advertisement campaign to improve perceptions of the LGBT community. Further, they suggest a code of ethics and a vision of the future for the gay community.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon publication, this was a life-changing, politically-energizing, and inspiring book. In the decades since, its ideas may now seem dated, perhaps inappropriate, but the spirit behind it all was what did indeed earn us many of our successes. I'm always surprised by how little known it is--when a book changes your life it's natural to expect the whole world should know it, as well--because while the PR campaign the book strives for never really came to be in the way it devised it, the spirit of that PR campaign, helping Americans overcome their homophobia, is very much in motion today. So, now it's probably dated. But then? Groundbreaking. Wherever Marshall Kirk is today. . .thank you. It launched my own personal revolution.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon publication, this was a life-changing, politically-energizing, and inspiring book. In the decades since, its ideas may now seem dated, perhaps inappropriate, but the spirit behind it all was what did indeed earn us many of our successes. I'm always surprised by how little known it is--when a book changes your life it's natural to expect the whole world should know it, as well--because while the PR campaign the book strives for never really came to be in the way it devised it, the spirit of that PR campaign, helping Americans overcome their homophobia, is very much in motion today. So, now it's probably dated. But then? Groundbreaking. Wherever Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen are today. . .thank you both. It launched my own personal revolution.

[Liesel Rios · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very badly written, I thought.

[Jw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chilling.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew. The author(s?) sum up the situation with gay rights as they sees it in 1989 and what should be done to encourage gay liberation. In a lot of respects they're astoundingly on the money, and GLAAD and other media awareness groups would go on to great success by unintentionally following these recommendations about how to deal with print and television media. But man, is there is a lot of other stuff going on here, including trying to pathologize homophobia via psychology without looking at greater cultural sources, the use of "homohatred" instead of homophobia that I'm really glad didn't become mainstream, and the ending third where they tell gays (and lesbians, who are very occasionally mentioned) to clean up their act and act "respectable" to straight people, so no more pride parades or bath houses. Everybody settle down and start a big ol' traditional family, but gay. They do correctly diagnose that the gay movement is not very united and will not have major success until it does so (though ironically, the most successful movements are ones the book itself condemns for being too radical, like ACT UP). But I don't think queer people would have made better gains by following this advice to the letter.

[Robert Bogue]

I was just graduating high school as the book After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90’s was published.  There was, obviously, a lot going on in my world, so I can’t say that the perspectives in America about homosexuals was top of mind for me.  I was aware of the fear and hatred but largely as a part of the awareness about AIDS and HIV.  For me, it was never a thing one way or another.  Within a year or two of graduating I met some openly gay and transsexual friends, and we didn’t talk much about how other people treated them.  To me, they were – and are – simply friends.

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[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic, somewhat controversial, and now dated (published in 1989) "battle cry, battle plan" that outlined incredibly effective public relations tactics for achieving gay rights and cultural change. I think any disenfranchised minority group would have benefited from the steps summarized in this book. Much of it is based on common persuasive advertising methodologies.

Because the book was written during the midst of the AIDS crisis, the authors were pretty harsh re the open promiscuity of some gay men and included "A Self-Policing Social Code" for relations with straights, other gays, and themselves.

An educational and enlightening read thirty years after its publication.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This critique of the Gay rights movement, published in 1991, argues that the movement up to that time, which had failed much more than it had succeeded, stood in desperate need of a change in tactics. Since that time, much of the progress in lgbt rights has reflected the approaches called for in the book.

I read this book at the time it came out and it changed my thinking about how gays and lesbians might best advocate for the cause. It struck me as an intriguing and thoughtful critique, and its ideas stayed with me. For modern readers the advice of the authors may seem pointless, but the discussion broached here by Kirk and Madsen is critical for those interested in the ideological history of the gay rights movement.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the eighties, the authors explore the failures and possible fixes of a group in crisis. The book is thoughtful, although sometimes harsh. Contains abundant good advice.

[Edward Amato · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book from the perspective of the 80's but it is definitely dated. I agreed with some of the authors' ideas but found a lot to be hogwash. Tired of their use of stereotypes.