Bay Windows - June 16, 2005
J.S. Hall

Larry Kramer has always had a knack for saying things that people don't want to hear. In 1978, this Oscar-nominated scriptwriter infuriated many with Faggots, his satiric take on the New York City/Fire Island gay sex scene. He formed Gay Men's Health Crisis and ACT-UP in response to governmental indifference to the AIDS crisis. His latest book carries on his tradition of loudly delivering an unwelcome message. Based on the fiery speech that he delivered in November 2004 at New York's Cooper Union, The Tragedy of Today's Gays is quintessential Kramer. Both despite and because of this, it ought to be read, and its points taken to heart.

Yes, it would be a lot easier to dismiss Kramer as the gay equivalent of the bearded nutcase who wears a sandwich board proclaiming "THE END IS NEAR," but in our present sociopolitical climate, his observation that "We're living in pigshit and it's up to each one of us to figure out how to get out," seems particularly accurate. So does his proclamation that, "I hope we all realize that, as of November 2, 2004, gay rights in our country are officially dead, and that from here on we are going to be led even closer to the guillotine."

Kramer has never pulled punches in his rhetoric, but here he's even blunter than usual, because he's older and exhausted from living with AIDS and complications from a liver transplant. "How long can I go on making speeches that, it is more than apparent, few listen to?" he asks us. Like a modern-day Cassandra, he's watched AIDS mushroom from 41 cases in July 1981 into over 70 million infections worldwide. Perhaps we really need a blunt instrument like Kramer to whack us over our heads until reality seeps in.

As always, gay men bear the brunt of Kramer's anger for living in a "state of total denial and disarray." If, he argues, we spent as much time and money getting a cohesive strategy and long-range plans (like our conservative, right-wing enemies have), we'd be a lot better off than we are now. But no, he contends, gay men put all their energies into getting laid rather than giving back to their community. "Most gay people I see appear to me to act as if they're bored to death." Stop being bored and find something meaningful to do with your lives, he urges. "Grow up. Behave responsibly. Fight for your rights. Take care of yourself and each other." Our lack of focus and refusal to acknowledge what happened to our predecessors, he claims, will be as destructive to us as our propensity for having unsafe sex.

Kramer invites scoffing with his right-wing conspiracy theories in The Tragedy of Today's Gays, but again, given our current climate, perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt. He cites the Powell Manifesto - a confidential document drafted in 1971 by a future Supreme Court justice, designed "to take back the gains of the democratic renewal in the twentieth century and restore America to a rule of the elites that maintain their privilege and their power at the expense of everyone else" - as the backbone of this shadowy faction's goal. More than 30 years of "backbreaking, grinding, unglamorous work" by the religious and political right, he contends, have brought us to our current predicament, with the implication being that gay man are too frivolous and self-oriented to consider a similar strategy for their own purposes. He all but pleads for us to prove him wrong.

In addition to Kramer's incendiary speech, this book contains a wonderful introduction by Naomi Wolf, in which she identifies Kramer and his writings as fiercely humanistic; a lengthy introduction by Kramer that Ed Koch and Ron Reagan, Jr. won't like one bit; and an afterword by Rodger McFarlane that puts it all into historical perspective.

Readers can call The Tragedy of Today's Gays a polemic, a jeremiad, a tirade, a fiery sermon or a rant. They can call it what they like, but they really need to read it. People probably won't agree with a lot of what Kramer has to say, but the core of his rhetoric, that gay people need to get off their collective butts and prepare to do battle before it's too late, needs to be heeded. If Larry Kramer of all people is scared, then maybe we should be too.

050616
BY050605

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2005. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2005. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .