While to the many unaware of his name, Larry Kramer's death is just another obituary in the times of COVID-19. However, to those aware of the history of AIDS, the literature of AIDS and the history of activism in the 1980s and 1990s, especially in the USA, Larry Kramer is a monument. An angry, raging, theatrical, loud and honest and unafraid man, who was confident and sure enough to literally scream at your face.
Larry Kramer (25 June 1935 - 27 May 2020), to those of his generation, was the black sheep of his community in the pre-AIDS years, mainly due to his incendiary, gasp-I-can't-believe-he-said-that satire Faggots. The title itself invites raised eyebrows and trepidation from readers from all walks of life. Be it the oh-so-heteros and the people of the newly recognised, newly 'healed' (by the American Psychological Association) post-Stonewall generation. All of them were aghast. Although the former seemed to accept the book better than the latter. This reaction to the book has certainly mellowed down with time.
It was in 1981 when this Academy Award Nominee was thrust in the midst of a new and mysterious illness that seemed to afflict the members of the gay community. Friends and acquaintances were getting sick, losing weight at an alarming rate, getting pneumonia and even unusual deep-red or dark blueish spots, and most importantly were wasting away. The sick were almost healthy and in the prime-of-their-lives young gay men who had either come-of-age in the years pre-Stonewall or just after that. Some of them had literally come-of-age. But alas, to the delightfully heterosexual white general population, AIDS was the disease of the 'homosexuals'. It was embarrassing to talk about it. It was something many felt that the homosexuals got for going against nature. They deserved it for it was the price exacted for their sinful and amoral ways. These are NOT my words. Let me repeat it. THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS OR THOUGHTS. However, a lot of data exists in the public record wherein people on TV, in print and even in person had expressed these sentiments.
It was at this juncture where Larry Kramer stepped in, stomped on and literally woke the world awake with his understandable rage and rhetoric. He made the world see its reflection and spelt its homophobia out loud - on national television, in print and on the streets. While he was not the only one to have taken the initiative to do something to help his falling comrades and children, he was probably the loudest, the boldest and most shrill of the lot. He and many of his ilk are the ones responsible for many many many of those seropositive receiving decent medicines and even care today.
I could go on and on talking about this man. I could talk a lot more about his theatrical activism and even his spell-binding literary works. However, all I want to say is that Larry Kramer is dead. Larry Kramer lived as he died. Without hiding. He made sure he was heard. Even after his passing, the world remembers him. We are not blind to his faults, which while a few, made him even more human, humane and impressive. It is this man we must acknowledge as possibly the last of this kind. Afterall how many out proud and loud, honest queer activists we have today who'd go on national television and scream blue to get their message across, irrespective of consequences. How many people do we have today, in this PC world of social media, who'd risk enraging the very community with his words yet express an undefinable love for it at the same time? Larry Kramer is dead. Remember him. He was possibly the last of his kind.
Thank you Larry Kramer.
You will be missed.
Rest in Peace.
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