The quote above is extracted from the first chapter of the novel ‘ Less.’ It alludes to the reports by the United States Center for Disease Control that HIV infection and AIDS were the leading causes of death among men aged 25-44 in the United States of America during the late 1980s and 1900s. He met them all at forty or so but never saw them make it much beyond they died of AIDS, that generation. He has never seen another gay man age past fifty, none except Robert. Even in the 21st Century, homosexuality is categorized as abnormal behavior and criminalized in over sixty countries today. However, the victories of gay rights are not universal across the world. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed a hate crime act into law, the law gave harsher court sentences to offenders if it is proven that their crime was motivated by prejudice against sexual orientation.Īlthough homosexuality continues to face challenges and controversies in the modern day captured in ‘ Less,’ it rightly depicts a more liberal society where homosexuals marry freely and publicly acknowledge their sexuality in the western world. Texas annulled the anti-sodomy law of the state. It was not until the year 2003 that homosexual activities were decriminalized in the United States.

Anti-sodomy laws in many states criminalized homosexuality in the twentieth century. DOMA allowed states to choose whether or not to refuse same-sex marriage certificates from other states and prevented the government from granting marriage benefits to same-sex couples. In 1993, Federal Congress passed a Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), signed into law by President Bill Clinton. But in the 21st century, American society became more progressive in its outlook toward homosexuality and made laws specifically meant to protect gay rights in the country. For instance, gay people were banned from being served alcohol in public and enlisting in the military. With the United States under focus, the 20 th Century had laws prohibiting homosexual activities and placing restrictions on people who identified as gay. The issue of sexuality beyond heterosexuality was more controversial in the 20 th Century than it is in the 21 st Century. This article will put the novel into historical context for a better appreciation of the story. The issue of sexual identity, which is a leading subject of social discourses around the world today, is a theme in ‘ Less‘ that the author depicted with references to the past. ‘ Less‘ is a contemporary novel with current issues that emanate from a not-so-distant past.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer