What we call as gay market today did not emerge all of a sudden. It was shaped by marketers who were observant enough to notice the potential of a profitable group whose visibility has begun to increase towards the end of the 20th century, decade by decade through a process of liberalization. This profitable group of homosexual consumers, especially male homosexuals, were always there. Appropriation of showing the courage of acknowledging them and giving the decision to develop marketing strategies for them was the novelty.
BEGINNINGS
To identify this process, firstly we shall focus on 1960s; an era, in which individual expression was encouraged, tolerance for new ideas and equality of rights were adopted, thus the way to the removal of sexual and moral prejudices was paved.
Some of the most striking features of the decade can be listed as; visible changes in personal relationships, civil rigths, idealist, protest and rebellious youth culture, moderation in cencorship, noticeable acceleration in consumption, feminism, underground and counter-culture, optimism, gay liberation etc. Whilst these were all happening simultaneously, most important one, in the context of formation of the gay market, was of course counter-culture.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the counter culture is its cultivation of a feminine softness among its males. It is the occasion of endless satire on the part of critics, but the style is clearly a deliberate effort on the part of the young to undercut the crude and compulsive he-manliness of American political life.
