In December 1980 The Advocate magazine published an article entitled “A Different Kind of Trade Show”. The article went on to explain that the event – the Gay and Lesbian Lifestyles Expo in Los Angeles – was organised:

“…to provide the business community direct sales contact with the Los Angeles gay populations amid such attractions as live entertainment, dancing, fashion shows, physical fitness exhibitions, cooking and craft demonstrations, contests and prize drawing.”

Given that the “live entertainment” was provided by Thelma Houston and Sylvester, it was clear that all the stops had been pulled out to make it a success.

What is significant about this event is that it was the first of its kind and, as such, was a bit of a milestone. For one thing, the active promotion of the concept of ‘gay and lesbian lifestyles’ was a recognition of our changing position within society.

As Denis Altman had argued in his book The Homosexualization of America, the 70s was the decade when we had gone from being a disparate bunch of sad, sick and sinful individuals to a recognised minority. Now that minority wasn’t just being recognised, its ‘lifestyles’ were being positively acclaimed instead of condemned: actively courted (albeit in terms of its perceived spending power) instead of shunned.

This was the growing recognition of and interest in the so-called ‘pink pound/dollar’ – the idea that we all had lots of disposable income. Whether we wanted this to be the basis on which we were accepted by ‘mainstream’ society is debatable (particularly in light of the current debate about the over-commercialisation of LGBT Pride celebrations). Nonetheless, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Lifestyles Expo effectively marked the beginning of what would become a universal trend of mainstream companies recognising that they had more to gain than lose by marketing to our once marginalised communities.