LGBTQ+ Issues

Novelist Stephen McCauley was a yoga instructor and travel agent before writing his first novel, "The Object of My Affection". His newest and third novel is "The Man of the House". (Simon & Schuster)

Felice Picano talks about losing 74 friends to AIDS. He recently came across a list with 75 people who attended his 40th birthday party in 1984. All but one....who is unaccounted for have died from AIDS.

Stand-up comic Suzanne Westenhoefer. She recently appeared on the latest "Comic Relief" special on HBO (November 11).Westenhoefer. is a lesbian, and uses her humor to challenge the stereotypes about gays and lesbians. She also was the first lesbian to have a comedy special on HBO, "Nothing in My Closet but my Clothes." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Editor of The New Republic Andrew Sullivan. He's the first openly gay editor of a national political magazine. His new book, Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality, (Knopf), examines how our society deals with homosexuality, and looks at the different viewpoints on it.

Steve Vineberg reviews the new film "Jeffrey" based on the Paul Rudnick play about sex in the age of AIDS.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo. . . in drag.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Intersection of Law and Desire, (Norton) which debuts the feminist lesbian private investigator, Micky Knight by J.M. Redmann. And a collection of lesbian pulp romances, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Quality Paperback Book Club) by Ann Bannon which has just been republished.

Activist Claudia Brenner, one of the prominent voices against anti-gay violence. Her new book Eight Bullets: One Woman's Story of Anti-Gay Violence, (Firebrand) which she co-wrote with Hannah Ashley, is a personal account of her lover's murder and its aftermath: her path to recovery and activism. Brenner is an architect who lives in upstate New York with her lesbian family.

Gay rights activist Candace Gingrich. She is the sister of Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House. Gingrich is the spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the nation's largest gay and lesbian lobbying organization. She is presently on a 48 city tour as a part of the Human Rights Campaign Fund's National Coming Out Project.

Writer May Sarton. She died of breast cancer on Sunday, July 16, 1995. For many readers, Sarton was a heroic figure for her decision to expose her lesbianism in the early 60s, long before 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 was probably best known for her journals, Recovering, and At Seventy. (REBROADCAST FROM 7/7/89).

Writer Scott Peck and his father Colonel Fred Peck. The younger Peck has written his first book, All American Boy, a memoir of his life growing up in an abusive home with his step-father and the rebuilding of his relationship with his father after a fourteen year estrangement. Peck was thrust on the national scene in May 1993 when his Marine Colonel father spoke against gays in the military to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Col. Peck went on to say his oldest son, Scott, was gay, and though he loved him, he should not be able to serve in the military.

Louganis has written a book, "Breaking the Surface," detailing the private life behind his diving persona. In 1988 he became the first diver in history to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in both the 10 meter platform and 3 meter springboard events. In 1994 he admitted he was gay. He has since revealed he has AIDS and knew it prior to the '88 games.

Monette died of complications from the AIDS virus on Friday, at age 49. His 1988 book "Borrowed Time: An Aids Memoir," was the first memoir to be published about AIDS, and won a National Book Award. In it, Monette told the story of his "beloved" friend and lover's two year struggle with AIDS. The book was called "a gallant, courageous love story." In 1992, he wrote a memoir about his own life before he came out of the closet at the age of 25, "Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story." (Rebroadcast)

Payn's new memoir is about his life with the the legendary theater songwriter. Coward is the author of "Hay Fever," "Private Lives," and "Blithe Spirit." Payn met him as a child, when he acted in Coward's "Words and Music" in 1932. The two were friends for thirty years until Coward's death in 1973.

Doty won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle award for his poetry, My Alexandria. He is currently a Fannie Hearst Visiting Professor at Brandeis University. He tells Terry about caring for his lover, who died of AIDS.

Michael Denneny is currently an editor at Crown Publishers. He worked with many gay authors in his 17 years at St. Martins Press, where he had his own imprint, Stonewall Editions.

Kushner is the author of "Angels in America," for which he won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Best Play. It's a two-part "seven hour epic about gays, AIDS and Reaganism" (New York "Newsday"). Kushner reads a new poem, a plea to God about the AIDS epidemic.

Hemphill is the author of two books of poetry, "Earth Life" and "Conditions," and a collection of prose and poetry called "Ceremonies." He's also the editor of "Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men." He reads an excerpt from his poem "Vital Signs," published in the collection "Life Sentences: Writers, Artists, and AIDS," edited by Thomas Avena.

Trinidad's latest book is "Answer Song." He and Dennis Cooper are co-editing a volume of selected poems by Tim Dlugos called "Powerless."

White is the author of seven books, including "Forgetting Elena," "States of Desire: Travels in Gay America," and "Genet: A Biography," for which he was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Lamda Literary Award. He has a new collection of essays from the past 25 years, "The Burning Library," many of which focus on gay life in America.