Part of the first wave[3] of LGBT cartoonists, he drew "It's a Gay Life", a regular single-panel cartoon feature in The Advocate, for 15 years.

[5] In 1977, disappointed that Joe Johnson's pioneering gay comic strips Miss Thing and Big Dick had ended their run in The Advocate, Donelan submitted 29 cartoons to the publication, which turned into a long-running series of his own.

[6] He continued to work in retail while producing the series, which also yielded two paperback reprints: Drawing on the Gay Experience (1987) and Donelan's Back (1988).

[11] Donelan created cartoons, pamphlets, and posters to educate the gay community about the importance of safe sex practices and the threat of AIDS.

[7] “I always try to talk to younger gay people, to tell them what happened before … I think it’s important that we all understand what everybody else did before us so that they can appreciate what they have now.”[7](speaking on the push for equality and acceptance) “We’re still not there, because not everybody agrees that you have a right to be who you are.

We’re still the outliers – not part of the heterosexual community that everyone thinks is normal.”[5]"I loved recognizing little bits of real life in the black and white blocks of the daily papers.