IN ONE PERSON by John Irving - a plea for tolerance

Having finished Irving's IN ONE PERSON, I'm left with a deep melancholy for the intolerance and insurmountable lives lost to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's.  Irving is the master of politicizing prescient issues of the day by giving us indelible heroes who find fortitude with the support of colorful and generous characters.  Billy Abbott struggles with his bi-sexuality while attending an all boy's boarding high school.  His support comes from his kindly, thespian step-father, cross-dressing grandfather and sometime lover & life-long friend, Elaine.  Irving's story begins in an east coast, all male boarding school in the 60's. A time when  homosexuals needed to be covert, or suffer humiliation if not outright physical abuse.  Irving references the numerous alum who are killed in the Viet Nam War. The veterans who did return were spurned by our country.  The 80's aids victims outnumbered Viet Nam casualties and were also ostracized.  Billy loses far too many friends and associates to aids. In the 90's Billy returns to his school to mentor other young students and observes some progress in terms of sexual tolerance. But what progress has really been achieved? Gay marriage is illegal in most states.  Bullying of others has become epidemic.  In the words of the late Bernard King,  "can't we all just get along?"