“For almost 20 years, Sylvester has been an icon of San Francisco nightlife: outrageous, bold, proud. Today, he is a symbol of a totally different San Francisco — a gay man struggling to stay alive”
“There are between 10,000 and 20,000 adolescents on the streets of this city… The most desperate of them eventually land with a thud on the docks, where not even the salt in the air can preserve them.”
“Our failure to devise an effective response to AIDS is partly a product of the silence of our culture. We are raised to regard epidemics as relics of distant lands and ancient eras; when an outbreak does occur, it seems unprecedented, unnatural.”
"Memorials. A new way to be unhappy in a group. I visit a friend who can no longer speak. A few days later he's dead. If you ask after people you haven't seen for a while, be prepared"
