Consensual Kissing Is Not Sodomy: The Policing of Homo/Sexuality and the Defense of the Normal Heart in Southwest Missouri

Larry Kramer wrote the play, The Normal Heart, in 1985 in order to highlight the difficulty in obtaining services during the early years of the ‘AIDS epidemic.’ Kramer wished to put a human face on the tragic experiences many had endured in the early 1980s and highlight the indifference shown by the United States government up to that point.

In November of 1989, The Normal Heart was performed by students in the Theatre and Dance Department at Southwest Missouri State University, amidst a maelstrom of local, regional, and national controversy. Members of the community, including one state representative, expressed visceral public reactions to the university’s continued dedication to and support of the performance of the play. One student’s house was set ablaze in an act of arson, a bomb threat was made, security on campus was heightened, and the Springfield Police offered those involved with the play temporary and secure housing at a local hotel for the duration of the play’s performances. This presentation will illustrate how the controversy surrounding The Normal Heart acted as a catalyst, bringing opponents and proponents of homosexuality into a direct and highly publicized conflict. Moreover, this was a pivotal moment in queer history in southwest Missouri because it was a critical moment of change. For a fleeting moment in time, ‘normalcy’ was put on trial and homosexuality thereby explicitly moved into the literal and figurative spotlight. Largely instigated and undoubtedly prolonged by tactics employed by supporters of the Christian Right, the backlash against the call to defend The Normal Heart was a vitriolic and very publicized homophobic campaign that served to lay the groundwork for future encounters that required LGBTQ activists and allies to mobilize against those threatening to further marginalize queer people in the region.