Contributors

Gauging America's Attitude Toward Gay Life in the '90s

In October 1969, TIME ran its first cover story on "The Homosexual in America." At the time, gay politics and culture were on the fringe of mainstream society and were rooted in just a few big cities. This week a confluence of events led us to re-examine the issue of gay life to determine how and to what extent sentiments have changed. Senior writer Steve Lopez visited Laramie, Wyo., to determine how attitudes in the small Western town may have contributed to the robbery and fatal beating of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay student. "There are no more bigots per capita in Laramie than in New York City," says Lopez. "But in such a small town, I found there are few places where one can go and feel comfortable about being different." Lopez also spoke with Laramie residents and Shepard's classmates about how they are handling the emotional impact of the killing. Meanwhile, writer-reporter John Cloud and senior correspondent David Jackson traveled to Hawaii to gauge public sentiment there toward gays on the eve of a ballot that would empower legislators to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage--the first vote of its kind in the country. "Hawaii is a relatively young state with a multicultural population, so citizens have traditionally been very tolerant," Cloud says. "But Hawaiians are going through a wrenching internal debate: Should they extend the spirit of aloha to gay couples even if same-sex marriage does not conform to the public's religious values?" Moving from the state to the national level, senior writer Richard Lacayo examines the emergence of gay politics into the mainstream of American political life. "With Christian conservatives so powerful within the G.O.P.," Lacayo says, "don't count on much compromise."

Gambling on an Upscale Image for Las Vegas

No American city has so successfully reinvented itself as many times as Las Vegas. The only constants in Las Vegas--from the dream of Bugsy Siegel to the haunt of the Rat Pack to a collection of theme hotels evoking other times and places--have been the gambling and the wisdom that it is no destination for the culturally inclined. The opening last week of Steve Wynn's $1.6 billion Bellagio hotel and casino, modeled after an Italian Riviera village, is the initial step in a plan to change that perception. Among the first to sample the Bellagio's attractions were several TIME staffers, who this week appraise the hotel and the city's attempts to draw a new audience to the desert. TIME's art critic, Robert Hughes, who surveyed the Bellagio's $300 million collection, which includes paintings by Picasso and Van Gogh, says the venue was no deterrent to enjoying some "very good" works. "I've seen art in restaurants," he says, "so why not in hotels?" Film critic Richard Corliss, who says he loves Las Vegas for its "concentration of kitsch," attended the opening-night performance of the new Cirque de Soleil underwater spectacular, O. He describes the show as "a mixture of Samuel Beckett, Fellini and Busby Berkeley." West Coast bureau chief Cathy Booth and Denver chief Richard Woodbury approached the story from a business perspective, examining the city's need to attract new visitors. "Every couple of years, Vegas has to come up with something new to remain profitable," Booth says. "Now they're going after the high-end traveler, the baby boomers. This is a market that's never been tapped. They're importing the best shopping, the best hotels and the best chefs." For those still pining for nickel slots and a cheap place to crash, Booth offers this advice: "Say goodbye to little rooms and all-you-can-eat buffets. Vegas is going upscale."