LGBT Issues & History

Dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones. For years, Jones collaborated and performed with his partner/lover Arnie Zane. After Zane's death from AIDS in 1988, Jones has continued to dance with the company he and Zane formed. The company is based on a philosophy that disdains the formal training of ballet and draws on athleticism, discovery, and the beauty of the movements of "everyday people."

Novelist Armistead Maupin. After moving to San Francisco in the mid-70's, Maupin became a gay activist and celebrated novelist. He's just completed the final book in his series, "Tales of the City," which began as a column in a San Francisco newspaper. The series of novels chronicles life in the gay and straight communities of San Francisco.

Cartoonist Howard Cruse. He draws a comic strip called "Wendel" that follows the life of a young gay man. The strip is a regular feature in the gay and lesbian newsmagazine The Advocate. Recent "Wendel" strips have just been collected in the book Wendel On The Rebound, published by Saint Martin's Press.

Writer May Sarton. For many readers, Sarton is a heroic figure for her decision to expose her lesbianism in the early 60s, long before it society was tolerant of the gay life, and also for her decision to lead a life of solitude. The author of over 35 novels, books of poetry and essays, Sarton is probably best known for her journals, Recovering, and At Seventy. Her most recent book of poems, The Silence Now, explores themes from the solitude of the aging, to AIDS, to world peace.

Cooper says his new novel Closer -- which features explicit depictions of sex acts -- is meant to disturb, but not shock or arouse. While honing in on the experiences of gay men, Cooper sidesteps the issue of AIDS; he says sexuality generates enough anxiety on its own.

Leavitt's writing focuses on the family lives of gay men and women. He says families can alternately be sanctuaries and dangerous communities for for them. His new book, set in the suburbs, is called Equal Affections.

Harvey Fierstein wrote and stars in the new movie Torch Song Trilogy, which is based on his play of the same name. Fierstein in openly, and hopes his visibility in the acting community will help normalize homosexuality.

Hansen's books feature a gay man in the hyper-masculine role of private detective. Hansen himself is gay, and hopes that his novels will help his readers become more accepting of homosexuality.

Andrew Holleran has writes about the lives of gay men. Now that several years have passed since the height of the AIDS epidemic, he's observed a kind of resignation to mortality and changing sexuality within his community.. Holleran's new collection of essays is called Ground Zero.

Writer Paul Monette. His new book, Borrowed Time, is a memoir about watching his lover die from AIDS.