Eighteen years after Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America explored the controversial themes of sexuality and religion, Kushner continues to be one of the country’s leading voices on gay rights. With President Barack Obama celebrating his first year in office, we asked Kushner to reflect on Obama’s tenure so far and his progress in regards to LGBT issues.

In this exclusive feature, Kushner admits he is inclined to be “extremely patient” about seeing change from Obama and the administration. Instead, Kushner’s lack of patience is directed towards the LGBT community and their predominant criticism of Obama’s progress in his first year. Given Obama’s inheritance–two wars; a crippling recession–Kushner “[extends] a tremendous amount of good faith in his direction.” Ultimately, Kushner argues, Obama should get some credit for having a stronger progressive gay rights agenda than any other president.

—Clarissa León

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