In writingMy Government Means to Kill Me, he got to find out.
Newsons debut novel follows Trey, a young, gay Black man from Indianapolis.
I think theyre really beautiful.
I think theyre signs of resilience.
I think theyre signs of rebellion.
To what extent do you consider this to be a plague novel?
I think of it as a coming-of-age novel happening during a plague.
I dont care whats been going on in society.
Its called Grandmas House.
I would go there Friday night and volunteer.
Id help the paid caretakers, help the kids with dinner, homework, read them stories before bed.
I would hook up with guys and have sex.
Those things happen, particularly when youre young and feel invincible.
I wanted to depict some of that dichotomy without attaching negative judgment to it.
Yeah, which is probably not technically true, but its how he feels.
It is also his place of community.
I think that can be lovely.
I think thats absolutely fine.
If youve been ostracized for most of your life, youll take community wherever you could find it.
Unless an institution has a mission to look after you, it probably isnt going to.
Thats how you get things like theGay Mens Health Coalition.
Thats a lesson thats stuck with us.
Were going to inform and help each other.
What surprised you the most when researching for the book?
Its fascinating how fractious groups can be, even when they want the same thing.
Again, I think over time and history, we smooth out those differences.
At the time,that was a fierce battle.
But by shutting them down, you didnt stop men from having sex with other men.
You just pushed it into places we cant track it.
You put them into the woods.
You put them into parked cars.
Trey meets many real-life figures in the novel, including Bayard Rustin, Larry Kramer, and Dorothy Cotton.
What made you want to use real people, as opposed to fictionalized versions of them?
I didnt want to use that many real people but the story led me there.
I decided to do it for two reasons.
One is that I dont think it besmirches anybodys reputation to say they went to a bathhouse.
Secondly, I came across the fact thatMr.
Did you find it challenging or intimidating to quite literally put words into their mouths?
I mean, Larry Kramer was alive when I was writing this book.
But there is an incredible treasure trove of audio and video of these people.
Im not imagining that.He gave that interview.
Do you have another book youre working on?
[I want to] take that person and introduce political consciousness into that bubble.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
This article was originally published onAug.
