Even in my town, even in San Francisco, thousands of gay men were arrested usually using entrapment techniques every single year for sexual behavior between consenting adults. That continued well into the 1970s until it was finally decriminalized in 1976, I believe.
Cleve JonesIf we [gays] want to be equal under the law, we must now - as the great heroes of the Civil Rights movement of 1963 and 1964 showed us - turn our attention to the federal government.
Cleve JonesWhat people haven't quite grasped yet is that the rich are transforming cities all across the world.
Cleve JonesThe penalties for homosexual conduct were - would vary from state to state, but they were - it was a felony in most states punishable with prison terms of varying lengths.
Cleve JonesThere was no way to have a decent life and to be gay. So I was terrified that I was going to be caught, and I had already experienced quite a bit of bullying. And, you know, I just thought that only misery lay ahead, and that if I - when I got caught that would be the solution. I wish I could say that was a thing of the past. But, you know, it's not.
Cleve JonesI was bullied pretty badly especially in middle school. High school was not as bad as middle school, but I was not a macho kid at all. And the kids saw me as different from a very, very early age.
Cleve JonesThe majority of new infections in America are among young gay and bisexual men of color, and the full resources that could be brought to bear simply are not.
Cleve JonesSince the industrial revolution, cities, and especially the inner cities, were the places for the newly arrived. Voluntary immigrants seeking economic betterment, refugees, the bohemians, the artists - all of those people were crammed into densely populated neighborhoods and tenements. And as people climbed up the economic ladder they moved out, which really accelerated with the "white flight" phenomenon in the '60s and '70s.
Cleve JonesThe reality is that the "gayborhoods" are going away. It's because of many factors, including the internet and increased acceptance, but mostly it's the cost of housing.
Cleve JonesI saw great hope in the Sanders campaign - a flawed candidate, not perfect, but pretty damn close. Millions of young people were inspired by him.
Cleve JonesI recently heard young people talking about collective bargaining agreements - I hadn't heard young people use that phrase in forever!
Cleve JonesDuring those days when you're exhausted and during those days when you're frustrated, during those days when you're being attacked by your own people for doing what you think is right, remember you're part of a progression that goes back a long time of ordinary people who are doing their best to make it a better world.
Cleve JonesI don't even want to go to the Pride marches anymore. The politics have been removed almost entirely. They're just huge corporate showcases.
Cleve JonesMarches work, rallies work, civil disobedience works, direct action works, voting works, writing letters works, speaking to churches and schools works, rioting works.
Cleve JonesI don't have any hobbies! I don't golf, I can't imagine what I would do if I retired other than get fat.
Cleve JonesI am not proud to be gay any more than I am proud to be right handed or to breathe oxygen.
Cleve JonesI am old school, I joined the gay liberation movement in 1972. If you had told me in 1972 that in the year 2009 I would be campaigning for the right to join the army or get married I think I would have started dating women at that time.
Cleve JonesWhen I was saving pills to kill myself, I thought there was no hope. I thought my life was over because I was a homosexual.
Cleve JonesThere are places in America that have not just protected middle-class neighborhoods but reduced homelessness. Even places like Houston have been able to reduce homelessness among veterans. It's a pretty shameful situation.
Cleve JonesI go back to the parallels with 1963, 1964 when white America really became aware of the brutality of segregation, the cruelty of the apartheid system which existed in the south. Then white people began to get on the freedom buses and travel to the south and be part of the voter registration drives and they... some of them were beaten and some of them were murdered but they stood with the African-American community and the civil rights movement. It's time for straight people to do that today and it is time for gay people to insist that they do that today.
Cleve JonesI am tired of fighting state by state, county by county, city by city, for fractions of equality. I am tired of compromises and I am tired of the strategy that divides us from each other. It is time for us to unite across state boundaries in a truly nationwide movement to win full, actual equality, which can only come from the federal government. That's not my opinion. That's a fact.
Cleve JonesI don't blame younger generations for their lack of awareness. Americans in general are not interested in history.
Cleve JonesI have no personal desire to get married whatsoever and I certainly have no desire to be a soldier. I'm old school, I'm from gay liberation, we wanted to end war forever and smash the patriarchy and these are values I still hold dear but, I believe that any person who wants to get married should have that right and I know that Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual people serve with distinction in the armed forces, and that when they are killed, supposedly serving our country in these wars, that I personally do not support, their partners back home do not receive death benefits.
Cleve JonesPeople who say that violence doesn't accomplish anything have not read history. I don't celebrate that reality, but there you have it.
Cleve JonesMost of the young people I know are working so hard, 60 or 70 hours a week. They have no time for recreation or love affairs; it's just work and struggle. I want them to endure, and find that strength and be able to continue.
Cleve JonesIf I had to say what my one greatest achievement is, it's that I lasted, and I'm still happy. I hope that comes through.
Cleve JonesEven today every year we lose an awful lot of young people, teenagers, who take their own lives because they're - they are gay or transgender.
Cleve JonesIf you tell me I can't understand you because of my color or you can't understand me because of your sexual orientation or she can't understand us because of her faith, well, if you can't have empathy how will you ever have solidarity?
Cleve JonesDealing with Hollywood and commercial entertainment, you always have to worry that the political message is going to be skewed or obscured.
Cleve JonesThe subset of our population that has not benefited from the advancement of medication is black and brown people.
Cleve JonesTo all my friends in Los Angeles: the Sultan of Brunei, owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel, has signed legislation calling for gay people to be stoned to death.
Cleve JonesI think support of the straight community is very important and I think there has been a profound shift in public opinion seen reflected in many ways. We do not need straight people to speak for us but we do want straight people to stand with us.
Cleve JonesWe spend countless hours talking about people's feelings and issues that aren't going to change anything.
Cleve JonesI think that a big part of the energy that was going into fighting AIDS was reduced when we saw that more of the new infections were among our black and brown young people. That's a sad truth to have to claim, but I believe it's true.
Cleve Jones