I was at university from the mid eighties. Before I went, I was only vaguely aware of the existence of gay people. There were some obviously gay pop stars (Boy George being the most obvious though I’m not sure I’d have known he was gay as it wasn’t on my radar) but also some who remained in the closet, such as George Michael and Freddie Mercury.
My mum had told me there was a gay man in our Quaker meeting. When I asked her what she thought, she basically said that it was his choice, but that it wasn’t natural. She possibly said more, but that’s what I remember.
One of my memories of Fresher’s week was getting an information leaflet about AIDS. It had information on gay sexual practices such as fisting and rimming. I thought it was grim and obviously carried health risks and I must say, that hasn’t changed much.
A friend, who once had wished to go out with me, finally worked out he was gay in his mid twenties. It hadn’t crossed his mind before that. Being gay just wasn’t something many people considered. I was interested and supportive when I heard, but that must have been early nineties, so a bit later than you are asking about. I think it had achieved broad acceptance by then though, at least in the younger generations.
On the surface, I can see why people argue that what’s happening now is similar. People did regard gay people with disgust. Many of us regard AGP men, with disgust. It’s complicated though, because I’d say most homophobic people were brought up that way and didn’t change or became more accepting. Most of the Terven started out being very accepting, then gradually saw all the problems AGP men bring, with their demands for access to women’s spaces and then changed our opinion as this didn’t seem reasonable. The horror at what was happening to children came later.
I’d say the main difference is in what was being asked for. Gay marriage doesn’t really affect other people in a direct way, whereas self-ID very much does. I think most of us would have been very supportive had the request been for additional spaces for people not comfortable with their own sex in sex-segregated spaces.
There certainly weren’t children’s programs and books advertising it, whereas now, children’s literature and mainstream TV are both heavily captured and trying to normalise trans.