Bay Windows - National News, July 6, 2000
Beth Berlo, Bay Windows staff

Long critical of the pharmaceutical companies, such as Du Pont and their manufacturing of Sustiva, Kramer is frustrated with what he feels is a whole population thatÆs being used in potentially harmful medical experiments.

ôI think the drug companies have really let the world down,ö Kramer said. ôThereÆs nothing to take that works for very long, and that is relatively easy to take. We really thought at ACT UP, that we were offering ourselves up as guinea pigs to the research establishment.ö

Known for its edgy political antics, some chapters of ACT UP have become cheerleaders for odd causes, most recently claiming HIV does not cause AIDS. Kramer calls those fringe groups a bunch of ôpsychopathic distressing malcontents.ö

On April 30, a handful of ACT UP activists from San Francisco staged a series of demonstrations inside the offices of GMHC, POZ Magazine, AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho, and outside KramerÆs Fifth Avenue home in New York. Kramer was out of town at the time. Their purpose? ôTo warn those who broadcast the myth that AIDS is caused by a virus, and push poisonous anti-HIV treatments, that their time is up,ö an ACT UP press release stated.

In addition, the small group, which Kramer says amounts to about three people, refer to him as ôbought-off AIDS drug activist Larry Kramer.ö

ôTheyÆre crazy,ö Kramer told Bay Windows in a phone interview from his home in Connecticut recently. ôTheyÆve gone around the bend. I donÆt even want to respond.ö

As founder of ACT UP, what does Kramer think of the organization today? ôNot a fair question,ö he said. ôBut ACT UP had eight or 10 good years. Certainly, five really good years. Grassroots organizations usually donÆt last that long. They burn out. The fact that there arenÆt the same numbers of people out there is sad, but I donÆt think itÆs unexpected and I donÆt think anyoneÆs to blame for it.ö

Activism works like a pendulum, Kramer says. ôOne year, everybodyÆs gung ho, another year, everybodyÆs interested in getting to Wall Street.ö Today? ôI think weÆre pretty bad right now. ThereÆs been a lot of publicity that the movement is different now and itÆs become much more middle class. People are settling down and having kids, and getting [unionized] in Vermont. I think thatÆs fine and nice, but we still havenÆt attended to creating any source of political infrastructure. We donÆt have a strong political organization that represents us.ö

Asked what he thought about the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Kramer called the organizations, ôBandAids,ö adding that, ôTheyÆre fine as far as they go, but they just arenÆt strong enough or powerful enough and they donÆt get along with each other. In addition, they donÆt represent enough of us, and I donÆt think they care. I think that all of these organizations become soap boxes for their leaders. ItÆs [like] trying to be a movie star.ö

On the Millennium March on Washington, Kramer said, ôHRC needs to corral some good people. I think that whatever the mess was in the Millennium March, thatÆs the kind of shit that went down 20 years ago. ItÆs kind of hard to have respect for an organization when something like that happens.ö

Kramer was referring to an FBI investigation of large amounts of missing money from the MMOW street festival that authorities say was an inside job, though later it was reported as a miscount.

Kramer talked about the Clinton administration and how he thought it fared in addressing the AIDS epidemic. He says he doesnÆt think ClintonÆs been good to the gay community, and is bewildered at how many gay supporters he has. ôHeÆs been all talk and very little substance,ö Kramer said, starting with the ôdonÆt ask, donÆt tell,ö policy. ôBut the plague is a lot worse. The fact that we got more money for it, doesnÆt amount to much. These stupid committees he keeps appointing are just window dressing. What else is new? He talks such a good rap that people sort of believe him. But I still donÆt see coordinated research. I still donÆt see any outreach to the rest of the world where things are really bad. I still donÆt see any attempt to work with the pharmaceutical companies so that they donÆt feel that weÆre trying to take all their profits away, but that they are somehow made to feel they have a responsibility that they have drugs to keep people alive. No one wants to talk about that.ö

While a new administration readies to be ushered in, Kramer says he wishes Gore wasnÆt ôsuch a drip.ö However, ôIn a funny sort of way,ö he continued, ôRepublicans tend to understand the business side of the problem. Bush wasnÆt bad in helping get the drugs out faster because he saw it in terms of money. I think now that AIDS has become such a large worldwide plague, great portions of the world are going to die. ThereÆs got to be enough money in all of this to make it worthwhile for everybody to try and work together on it. I donÆt think the Democrats would understand it that way. On the other hand, you have to vote for Al Gore just because heÆs going to be appointing a bunch of Supreme Court justices, and thatÆs probably going to affect the gay movement.ö

Asked what his proudest work has been thus far, Kramer says he doesnÆt look at it that way. ôI enjoy the challenge of today and tomorrow and trying to figure out what the next step is, as bleak as it may appear.ö

Since his widely read novel ôFaggotsö was published in 1978, Kramer has taken on the ambitious project of writing a history of America from a gay point of view. Currently, he has over 2,000 pages written, he said, and isnÆt sure when it will be done. He says he doesnÆt know why he elected to take on such an immense undertaking, ôBut thatÆs what IÆm doing and itÆs the hardest thing IÆve ever done. ItÆs taken longer than I ever imagined. I get up some days and want to burn it, and slit my wrists. But IÆve written a novel and screenplays, and I like trying different things all the time. As I begin to see whatÆs emerging, I begin to take a little more pleasure from it. I think weÆre put on earth to try and make it a better place, and if youÆve been fortunate to be blessed with intelligence and a good education, and enough money to feed yourself, then we have responsibilities to ourselves and to each other to do all that. I have no idea where that just came from, because I donÆt believe in God and IÆm not a religious person, but it just seems obvious that we should all live like that.ö Grove Press has just re-issued ôFaggots,ö which he describes as the search for love. ôAnd I think everybody has had that experience,ö he said. ôæFaggotsÆ was one of the first gay novels able to be forthright and not have anything censored. ôItÆs how we lived,ö Kramer said.

What Kramer says heÆs been wanting for a long time and is just beginning to experience is recognition from literary circles, especially from those he admires. ôI was always known as Larry Kramer the activist,ö he said.

Kramer beams knowing Reynolds Price wrote the foreword to ôFaggots,ö and happier still that playwright Tony Kushner, who heÆs long admired, wrote the introduction to two more Grove releases: ôThe Normal Heartö and ôThe Destiny of Me,ö both well received plays.

In addition, Grove Press is publishing all of his work, including his screenplay adaptation of D.H. LawrenceÆs ôWomen in Love,ö which was nominated for an Academy Award; his AIDS farce, ôJust Say No,ö and a complete volume of AIDS writing.

ôFaggotsö was based on KramerÆs relationship with current partner David Webster, an architect. ôItÆs about our first three or four years together when it didnÆt work out. I was very much in love with him. The book ends with our parting, and I didnÆt see him again until 17 years later.ö Even though they lived in the same city about 10 blocks from one another, Kramer said they never ran into each other. One day they had to speak to each other for business reasons. They had dinner. They learned that they both had lost lovers to AIDS, and that Webster had only recently lost his partner. The rest is history, he said.

Asked if the fearsome image that once accompanied his name is still there, Kramer replied, ôI think people expect me to always be outspoken, so they really donÆt hear it as a roar anymore. The Internet has changed the nature of activism a lot in the way you can accomplish things. You can reach more people very quickly.ö

For now, Kramer will continue working on his book, ôThe American People.ö ôItÆs been very hard and painful to write,ö he says. ôItÆs a history of AIDS. YouÆre constantly reminded that youÆre dealing with material that you really have to do justice to.ö
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