AustLit

'When I tried to think about my earliest memory of HIV or AIDS, I couldn't seem to go back further than the first time I had sex. I was staying in a cheap hostel in Amsterdam a few months before my 19th birthday and one night ended up at a really cruisy gay bar. It was packed, dimly lit. There I was, a tall, lanky 18-year-old boy from country Victoria, standing in the corner with no idea what I was doing. A few beers turned my furtive glances into awkward stares, and after about an hour a cute Israeli guy probably twice my age stuck up a conversation.' (Introduction)

'At the turn of the century, I became bored writing about homosexuality. Most of my writings for three decades, since my first book Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation, had touched on it in some way or another, even though I had escaped along the way into several other subjects, including a coffee table book which in the language of cultural studies set out to deconstruct postage stamps. Surely, I felt, in a new century, the need to explore and uncover the depths of fear, dislike, and opprobrium of homosexuality had given way to a new normality; when discussing one's sexuality no longer seemed a pre-eminent intellectual and emotional demand.' (Introduction)

'Ten minutes later, ten minutes late, Penelope arrives, bustling past other tables to find Penelope. When she sits down, Penelope notices her red cheeks and the sweat caught in the hairs on her upper lip. I had a drink already, I hope you don't mind. That's okay, I just need some water, just a sec, sorry, I'm just, wow! Puffed!...' (Introduction)

'The New Deal in our household was inspired by an article by Sarah Miller on Cafe.com about how much cooking sucks. My partner came across it - it had gone semi-viral - and shared it on her Facebook page with some delight. I'd always known that Zoe was not one who particularly enjoyed cooking, but the vehemence of her response to the piece struck me as a failure of my observational powers. How could I have dated this woman for three years and not known that not only did she not enjoy the act of cooking, she actually despised it?' (Introduction)

'The importance of female friendship is sometimes lost in our culture's rush to celebrate love and romance. The endgame of fulfilment is seen to rest squarely on the shoulders of marriage, or at least a committed love-partnership, often referred to as 'pair-bonding'. But when I look back on my life, the relationships that have been most sustaining have been those that fall quite outside the realms of traditional notions of love.' (Introduction)

'Doris is the only friend I have worth talking to anymore. Once I saw her eat ice-cream out of an old man's mouth. I like Doris because she doesn't step on my toes but she can hold her own. Let's face it - some people are dogs. A few weeks ago Doris brought me to some kind of support group full of divorcees. They meet every week on a Wednesday night. She said she didn't know it would be full of women and that she thought it was maybe a good way to meet men. She's not very smart. Doris thinks divorce follows you around like a bad smell, especially if you're a woman...' (Introduction)