I think all of us thought that by the '70s, at the latest the '80s, all the world's problems would be solved and everyone would be getting along fine. And instead we saw that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated that year, Robert F. Kennedy died. We saw that it was going to be a lot more difficult than I think we had thought.

Of course, I have a different vested interest in the gay community, because I am gay, and I would certainly enjoy the tax advantages that straight people have, and the inheritance advantages, and things like Social Security, but I've always been a civil rights advocate across the board. That's how I was raised.

The money when you're having a hit is great, but money can be taken from you. What can't be taken from you is the talent and the effect your work has.

It's what I do well - I write about things that make people uncomfortable. That's probably the only thing I do better than my peers.

Once you're halfway home, you know that you can probably get the rest of the way there.

Those of us with ravaged faces, lacking in the social graces, desperately remained at home, inventing lovers on the phone.

Some people would rather stay ignorant and self-satisfied.