Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - DP120385
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED215375 AUTHOR: Palmerton, Patricia R.
TITLE: The Rhetoric of Opposing Constructions of Reality:
Gay Rights in St. Paul.
YEAR PUBLISHED: 1982
NOTE: 22 p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
Central States Speech Association (Milwaukee, WI, April 15
17, 1982).
ABSTRACT: Fantasy Theme Analysis was used to examine the
rhetorical clash of incongruent world views during the 1978
controversy over a gay rights ordinance in St. Paul,
Minnesota. Fantasy Theme Analysis considers the individual
and collective dramatizations of a group's goals, scope,
and activities--the group's conceptualized reality, or
fantasy theme--in evaluating the rhetorical effectiveness
of the group. The three groups examined in this study and
involved in the issue of gay rights in St. Paul were
Citizens Alert for Morality (CAM), an antigay-rights group;
St. Paul Citizens for Human Rights (SPCHR), a moderate
group arguing in favor of gay rights; and the Target City
Coalition, a "militant" gay rights group. Analysis of
newspaper accounts, brochures, newsletters, broadcast
materials, and advertisements during the controversies
revealed the success of CAM over the other two groups. One
of the strengths of the CAM rhetoric was the extent to
which positions were justified within the assumptions of
the vision. In the CAM vision, allowing civil rights for
gays was a fault that could have led to total destruction
of the vision. To fail to show how assertions fit within
the context of the proffered perspective is to fail to show
how the perspective can explain reality, hence to fail to
create that alternative conception in an acceptable manner.
It is in this arena that both Target City and SPCHR fell
short. (RL)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Civil-Liberties; Communication-Thought
Transfer; Conflict-; Higher-Education; Homosexuality-
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Communication-Research; *Discourse
Analysis; *Persuasive-Discourse; *Rhetorical-Criticism
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