Spiderman and Planned Parenthood
Andrew Farago unearthed a vintage Spiderman comic in which Spiderman defeats an evil villain who is plotting to turn the youth of American into babymaking machines by convincing them that all sorts of rubbish is true. Luckily, he scanned the whole thing, so we can all read it, too.
Like most Planned Parenthood materials, the comic includes at various points information about VD, pregnancy and birth control. It also includes a bizarre comment on homosexuality:
About homosexuality
The way a person looks or acts is no clue to homosexuality.
Having a close friend, or being attracted to a person who’s of the same sex doesn’t mean you’re homosexual, or ever will be.
I find this information a bit elliptical. You’re probably not gay, and you probably can’t tell if anyone else is. Right. Well, that’s reassuring.
It’s clearly not as reactionary/alarmist/homophobic as many other bits of ephemera from the time period, but it’s certainly not real gay-positive either. Nor, really, is it relevant to the VD/pregnancy issue that is central to most of the comic.