The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

placed some of the burden of homelessness on
the federal government. This legislation provided a
multi-part response that not only included emer-
gency food and shelter for the homeless but also
provided for housing and job training to transition
individuals out of homelessness. Advocates for the
homeless welcomed the legislation as an acknowl-
edgment that homelessness is a national issue, but
critics wished that the implemented programs would
do more.

Impact Homelessness in North America during
the 1980’s changed from being perceived as a per-
sonal problem to being acknowledged as a public is-
sue. As the homeless became more visible and began
to include families and the working poor, homeless-
ness no longer was viewed simply as the result of
poor individual choices. It had seemingly become a
problem that could affect anyone. To many, the in-
crease in homelessness was symbolic of the failure of
society to provide adequately for those unable to
compete for jobs and resources. Homelessness con-
tinued to be a problem in urban areas beyond the
end of the decade, but in response to the homeless-
ness of the 1980’s, government at all levels expanded
its role to provide shelter and reduce the visible signs
of homelessness.

Further Reading
Blau, Joel.The Visible Poor: Homelessness in the United
States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Provides an insightful discussion of homeless-
ness, its causes, and the public response; outlines
possible solutions. Emphasizes the experience of
New York City.
Hombs, Mary Ellen.American Homelessness: A Refer-
ence Handbook. 3d ed. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-
CLIO, 2001. Comprehensive guide to the issues,
research, and resources related to homelessness
during the 1980’s and after.
Jencks, Christopher.The Homeless. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1994. Good sur-
vey of the research on U.S. homelessness during
the 1980’s that discusses important causes and of-
fers solutions.
Kozol, Jonathan.Rachel and Her Children: Homeless
Families in America. New York: Crown, 1988. The
stories of homeless families’ day-to-day struggles
to survive in New York City welfare hotels during
the 1980’s are explored in detail.
O’Flaherty, Brendan.Making Room: The Economics of

Homelessness. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univer-

sity Press, 1996. In an accessible way, economic

analysis is used to explain the importance of vari-

ous causes of homelessness and how these causes

contributed to patterns experienced during the

1980’s in selected cities in North America and Eu-

rope.

Rossi, Peter.Down and Out in America: The Origins

of Homelessness. Chicago: University of Chicago

Press, 1989. Puts homelessness into a historical

perspective and provides a detailed look at home-

lessness in Chicago during the 1980’s.

Randall Hannum

See also Demographics of Canada; Demographics

of the United States; Gentrification; Income and

wages in Canada; Income and wages in the United

States; McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987;

Reagan, Ronald; Reaganomics; Recessions; Unem-

ployment in Canada; Unemployment in the United

States; Welfare.

Homosexuality and gay rights

Definition Same-sex relationships and the

struggle for legal and cultural acceptance of gay

men, lesbians, and bisexual people

The 1980’s saw the gay rights movement shift its focus to in-

clude the AIDS crisis. The crisis brought a renewed attack

on alternate sexualities from the Religious Right, as well as

a new sense of purpose and renewed efforts by activists fight-

ing for gay rights.

The history of gay and lesbian rights in the 1980’s is

closely tied to the history of the acquired immuno-

deficiency syndrome (AIDS) crisis. By the time the

gay liberation movement reached the 1980’s, it was

beginning to lose momentum. However, when AIDS

was discovered in the early part of the decade, gay

rights activists had a new rallying point. Especially in

the disease’s early years in North America, the ma-

jority of its victims were homosexual men. Political

conservatives therefore exploited the AIDS crisis to

attack gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. The effect of

this backlash was to draw the gay, lesbian, bisexual,

transgender (GLBT) community closer together.

The AIDS Crisis and the Conservative Backlash Be-

cause so many early sufferers from AIDS were gay

The Eighties in America Homosexuality and gay rights
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