from “Greeting Cards for the Sexual Revolution” in “Mad”, September 1971
"Pansy Yokum" is a character from the cartoon strip "Lil Abner". Barely the level of a gag from "laugh-In", but about the level of cultural reference for the teenage reading base of "Mad".
This prompted a letter from Glenn M Larson of the Homosexual Information Service, in which he asked
“If you sincerely feel that Gay people are less oppressed, less in need of liberation than the socially acceptable minorities, perhaps you should consider this: When was the last time you heard of someone facing arrest and conviction as a ‘practicing Indian or Black’…?”
Which begs the question as to why a grown man was reading what had become an only so-so humorous magazine for adolescents? But at least they did print his letter. In the late '70s when barely an issue went by without some "fag" joke, and even a few approving refernces to Anita Bryant, "Mad" didn't allow any room for comment.
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