For a long time, I resented being a gay man in this generation. When I first started learning about the gay culture in the 60’s and the 70’s, I felt incredibly out of place. I felt like I had missed out on the “gay golden years”, missed out on the sexual revolution, the riots… I mean it was the height of the gay liberation movement, and it felt like I had missed out on an important experience as a gay activist. I wanted to be there leading the march, fighting the police, cruising the west side piers…. Then one day, I was having this conversation with a good friend of mine, and she reminded me that despite how meaningful and glorious I think those years might have been, I have to remember that it was incredibly difficult being a gay man, far more than it is today. She reminded me that those men fought for my rights, fought hard so that one day people like me didn’t have to go through what they had to go through. Larry Kramer’s story wasn’t a play back then, it was reality. So sure, there are parts of gay culture that I wish I could’ve experienced, and that’s a shame, but some of it… we shouldn’t ever have to see again. And for that, I am grateful. The fight is far from being over, but the history that we get to write today is far less painful than it was 40 years ago. A lot of it is actually quite beautiful.