It is customary for novels, plays, essays, and pretty much anything else written about gay life in the eighties and nineties to be dedicated in memoriam to individuals—sometimes one or two, sometimes dozens or hundreds—whose lives were prematurely cut short by AIDS. Without forgetting the millions of the epidemic’s dead, I would nevertheless like to break with tradition and dedicate this book, with gratitude and great respect, to Larry Kramer, because of whose tireless efforts many more millions are alive today. Including him.

And for Lou Peralta

This is the path that led me to you.