We have to think bigger as writers. We have to try and change the world.

The most important fact is that gays have been here since day one. To say otherwise is a gross denial and stupidity. We played an enormous part in the history of America.

I forgot that San Francisco is not an angry city like New York. Gays have gotten what they wanted there over the years, unlike New York, where we had to fight for everything.

Mr. Do-Nothing Obama will say today, 'Lets think of all the poor dead people' - or 'let's honor all the dead' instead of fighting for the living. He has been really useless in terms of both HIV and gay issues. He is simply not a leader. He may be president, but he is not a leader.

I don't mind about the dead ones. They're dead. The worst of it is, they cling to the living and won't let go.

I don't consider myself an artist. I consider myself a very opinionated man who uses words as fighting tools.

Writers who are activists are very rarely taken seriously as artists.