ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the 'mainstream' sexual advertising that now frequently appears in such gay and lesbian publications as The Advocate, out, and Instinct. By means of textual analysis, these ads may be studied not only to see both their blatant and hidden sexual images and innuendo, but also to consider their images and messages within the larger issue of gay and lesbian politics. The emergence of the homosexual as a minority figure occurred at mid-20th century through the convergence of politics and science. World War II provided social and sexual contacts never before available to millions of gays and lesbians. At the time, gay rights groups had accused the company, controlled by a family deeply involved in right-wing politics, of discriminating against its gay and lesbian employees. In recent years, mainstream advertisers have begun placing their ads with more blatantly homoerotic images in the gay press to attract the gay and lesbian community, and its money.
