What was going on at the time the play takes place—global and national as well as local events and phenomena—that would affect the characters, the lives they lead and the choices they make?
What did these characters believe and value? (This includes any specifics you can find about economics, religion, war, art, politics, sex, the role of women, etc.)
The Aids Scare was in full swing in 1985. New York City officials were shutting down any establishment that provided the opportunity for what was deemed unsafe practices. There were several bars and "backrooms" shut down. If they could not prove that the "unsafe practices" were allowed on the premises then they started to look at the tax records of the establishments. The word was out. AIDS was here and everyone was pointing to the homosexual community. While the gay men of New York City were harrassed out of their social settings and their gathering places shut down, there were prostitutes and massage parlors operating openly. What seemed to be the catch is that there was an overwhelming sense that AIDS was a homosexual problem while the information was out that it was spread by the exchange of bodily fluids.
However not everyone was silent. There was a Gay Pride Parade in 1985 where five Catholic priests marched in the parade. One even said that all five were homosexual and represented a much larger group of absentee gay priests.
There was open hostility towards homosexuals not only in the bars but in the courts also. In 1985 the Supreme Court in Virginia found that, "a homosexual man was ''an unfit and improper custodian as a matter of law.'' (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DE153DF932A15752C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2)
