Describe the cultural impact "Howl" had initially versus the cultural impact that it has now.

Allen Ginsburg's "Howl," a lengthy poem whose urgency is best evoked when read aloud, was first read at the Six Gallery reading (a poetry event in San Francisco in 1955) and was published at the City Lights Bookstore in 1956. The following year, obscenity charges were brought against Lawrence Ferlinghetti, also a Beat generation poet, who owned and operated the bookstore.
"Howl" illustrated drug use and addiction, mental illness, and sodomy, among other taboo subjects in the context of New York City in the 1950s. Ginsberg's willingness to speak on these topics in the context of art broke the silence around these issues.
At the time, the poem, which was published as a small book, inspired young people who felt alienated from mainstream society in the 1950s. Their values or identities made them feel different, and "Howl" was a poem dedicated to those who felt different and who were, in some instances, destroyed by a society that did not appreciate difference. In this regard, the poem remains timeless. There are still people who feel themselves to be unaccepted by American society, and "Howl" speaks to those people, reminding them that they are not alone.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/23/allen-ginsberg-howl-poem-film