There are still parts of the country where it's hard: when you realize you're gay, it's like a death sentence.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
We live in a country where people still get beaten to death because of their sexual orientation.
My mother thought me being gay was a death sentence.
There are deaths in public places on the grounds that the victim is gay.
The gay thing has always been hard for me.
I think it's interesting: What is the generational effect of the experience of being a gay person in America? For my generation, it was very difficult.
I didn't want to be gay. I wanted to be... I wanted an easy life. And you know what? I am gay, and I still have an easy life.
Really, when it comes to gay rights, there's two wars going on. The first war is political. But the culture war is over.
Until the year 1967, it was a crime, for which you could be put in prison, to make homosexual love to someone in your own house. If they came in and caught you at it, you could be put into prison. This has changed - I'm talking about England, incidentally.
I think also there was a lot of coming to terms with where I am in life, where I fit in as a gay man in America, and getting more comfortable with who I am.
The homosexual community has more acceptance in America than it ever has, and the suicide rate is as high as it's always been.