Barclay is the long-time partner of Christopher Mason, an executive in the food industry. The couple had airline tickets for a flight on September 11, 2001 but opted to fly to California a day earlier; otherwise, they would have been on one of the planes that were crashed into the World Trade Center.

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"After that, Paris and I came to the conclusion that we needed to make a difference in the world," Mason told Anne Stockwell of The Advocate. "For us, that meant adopting some kids."

Mindful of the fact that African-American boys are the least likely children to be adopted, Barclay and Mason chose to add two such sons to their family.

On September 14, 2008, Barclay and Mason were married in a ceremony that was at once personal and political. Their sons, William and Cyrus, served as ring-bearers. Barclay and Mason also used their nuptials as an event to raise funds for the election of Barack Obama and for Equality California's campaign against Proposition 8.

When asked by Shulman about his views on the comparison of the movement for glbtq rights and the movement for civil rights for African Americans in the 1960s, Barclay stated, "I feel that if we really believe in civil rights, just as Jesse Jackson was always saying with the Rainbow Coalition, we believe in them for everybody, and that's that. End of story. It actually irritates me when people are upset about the parallel as if, in some way, it cheapens the black civil rights movement. To have true equality for all men and women in the United States means everybody. It doesn't mean you get to pick your constituency."

In response to a further question from Shulman, Barclay expressed his support for the community, declaring that "if they are people who are discriminated against, people we have a relationship with, then we should put them on our list of people that we're going to go down with."

Although there are frequently social and legal barriers to overcome, adoption is an important way in which lesbian and gay male couples create families.

American television has made significant strides in its portrayal of homosexuals in dramatic series and movies, but cable networks have been more daring than the "big three" broadcast networks.

Reality television viewers have come increasingly to expect the appearance of gay men and lesbians on these shows because their presence helps further underscore the "reality" in Reality TV.

American television sitcoms have consistently reflected the presence of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, often in distorted and stereotyped ways, but occasionally in ways that acknowledge our humanity and complexity.

Gay, lesbian, and bisexual film directors have been a vital creative presence in cinema since the medium's inception over one hundred years ago.

Violence perpetrated against people thought by their attackers to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered occurs with disturbing frequency in the United States and other countries.

Gay and lesbian content in music videos was rare in the early 1980s, but with more openly gay and bisexual artists that situation has gradually changed.

The musical has been a significant aspect of American gay male culture, manifesting itself both in diva worship and, more recently, in the presentation of openly gay characters and shows written by gay writers primarily for gay audiences.

There has always been homosexual involvement in American musical theatre and a homosexual sensibility even in straight musicals, and recently the Broadway musical has welcomed openly homosexual themes and situations.

Lesbian and gay couples have been fighting for the freedom to marry since the dawn of the modern glbtq struggle for equality; despite some success abroad, progress toward same-sex marriage in the United States has been slow.

Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black has quickly established himself as both an accomplished filmmaker and a committed activist.

Equality California (EQCA) is one of the largest and fastest growing statewide glbtq advocacy and civil rights organizations in the United States.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a watchdog group dedicated to promoting accurate representations of the glbtq community in the media.

The largest glbtq political organization in the United States, the Human Rights Campaign has emerged as the leading national organization representing glbtq concerns.

Proposition 8, also known as the California Marriage Protection Act, is the ballot proposition that amended the California state constitution to ban same-sex marriage; it is the subject of ongoing litigation that may restore marriage equality to California.

Romer v. Evans (1996) marks the first time in its history that the U. S. Supreme Court recognized lesbians and gay men as worthy and deserving of equal rights.

One of the most innovative talents of the musical theater in the second half of the twentieth century, Stephen Sondheim has only indirectly reflected his homosexuality in his work.