As anyone who is gay will confirm, being that way is not something you become, it is a set of emotional and physical responses that just are.

It was a pleasure to be a gay eyesore.

One result of An American Family was that I became a gay role model.

David Bowie and Boy George created a safely contained theatrical expression of gay style.

Gay culture is in a coming-out process of its own. From out of the closets in the '60s, the culture moved onto the disco floors of the '70s and through the hospital wards of the '80s and onwards to the streets.

Gay culture is surviving and thriving. Some activists believe the recent rise in homophobic violence might be a gauge of the success of positive gay images.