Media was central to this warping of reality. I was particularly attracted to Vito Russo’s 1981 book The Celluloid Closet, which surgically traced the way gays and lesbians were portrayed by Hollywood as compared to how they were treated in real life. Movies were filled with tragic suicidal dykes, conniving gay men, silly fops, and butch aggressors. Those depictions were not a fair reflection of me or anyone I knew.
