PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mark Segal may be known today as the founder of the Philadelphia Gay News, but his best stories happened earlier.
He broke barriers for the LGBTQ community at Stonewall, was a marshal at the first-ever Pride parade in New York City, and helped start the Gay Liberation Front. And yet, none of that is the legacy he wants to leave.
“My life … is all about visibility, not about Stonewall,” the Philly native said. “I realized that we had to be more out and proud and get before the public. And that’s why I’m the one who started creating the disruptions of TV shows.”
Segal, who grew up in Mount Airy, first grabbed a national audience by force when he interrupted Walter Cronkite’s broadcast of “CBS Evening News” in 1973, running in front of the camera with a sign that said, “GAYS PROTEST CBS PREJUDICE.”
“Sixty-six million people saw it,” Segal recalled, referencing Cronkite’s ratings at the time. “It was the first time many of those 66 million saw a gay person.”
Segal was arrested for the disruption, but he got the chance to talk to Cronkite later and explain his motives. Shortly thereafter, Cronkite started to include LGBTQ stories on his show. When Segal launched the Philadelphia Gay News three years later, he said Cronkite was one of his mentors.
Segal continued to disrupt other news broadcasts — a tactic that became known as a “zap” — and protest in the boldest ways he could think of.
Politicians quickly learned who he was — and responded when he wrote to them. In 1974, Segal convinced Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp to issue an executive order protecting LGBTQ people in state government jobs and create a council to address LGBTQ issues.
Nowadays, Segal looks back on his path with a proud and somewhat-sly smile.
“I’ve come from an area where 99% of my community was in the closet, 99% of my community hated what I was doing,” he said. “Today, a majority of my community — 90-some percent — think we are heroes.”
“We’ve achieved more than I ever dreamed we could have in 1969.”
Listen to more of Segal’s story on this episode of the KYW In Depth podcast, which you can listen to in the player below or wherever you get your podcasts.