I don't blame younger generations for their lack of awareness. Americans in general are not interested in history.

There 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.

When I was saving pills to kill myself, I thought there was no hope. I thought my life was over because I was a homosexual.

Any social movement that seeks to benefit only its own members I think is a shallow movement and probably doomed to failure.

The 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.

Since 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.

Dealing with Hollywood and commercial entertainment, you always have to worry that the political message is going to be skewed or obscured.