DONNA ACETO
MATT TRACY
Hayley Martell reads from a letter Larry Kramer wrote for folks who watched “The Normal Heart.”
DONNA ACETO
DONNA ACETO
Jim Eigo, a founding member of ACT UP’s Treatment and Data Committee.
Larry Kramer’s husband, David Webster, with Eric Sawyer, a founding member of ACT UP.
ACT UP members Jason Rosenberg and Brandon Cuicchi.
➤ LARRY KRAMER, from p.8
concern for the very lives of complacent
LGBTQ people.”
Kidd continued, “At least one of
the early targets of Kramer’s activism
learned to appreciate his
brash and acerbic public persona.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, then and still
director of the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases at
the National Institutes of Health,
was initially accused by Kramer
of inaction ‘that resulted in the
deaths of thousands… and causing
today’s increase in HIV infection
outside of the queer community.’
But over the decades, the
two cultivated a close friendship.
In 2002 Fauci said, ‘In American
medicine, there are two eras… before
Larry and after Larry.”
Hayley Martell, a new member of
ACT UP New York, read from a letter
written by Kramer and distributed
to those who went to see Kramer’s
1985 play, “The Normal Heart,”
which depicted the early days of
the AIDS crisis. The play was also
transformed into a 2014 movie. In
the letter, Kramer stressed that the
play was rooted in the realities of
the crisis — and he also used the
note to bring urgency to those who
went to watch the play.
“Please know that AIDS is a
worldwide plague,” Kramer wrote,
as recalled by Martell. “Please know
that no country in the world, including
this one, especially this one, has
ever called it a plague, or dealt with it
as a plague. Please know that there
is no cure. Please know that after all
this time the amount of money being
spent to fi nd a cure is still minuscule,
still almost invisible, still
impossible to locate in any national
health budget, and still totally uncoordinated.
Please know that here in
America case numbers continue to
rise in every category…”
Andy Humm, who wrote Kramer’s
obituary for Gay City News, offered
two brief memories.
“We all know that Larry was a
brilliant writer and a fi erce and
terrifi c speaker. We all know that,”
Humm said. “When he fi nally got
us all activated around ACT UP in
March of 1987, the fi rst action was
at Wall Street. Big demo, and Larry
had wanted this since he founded
GMHC — he wanted action on the
streets. And there were thousands
of people in the streets on Wall
Street ready to do this…”
With the press on hand, Kramer
was preparing to speak and, as
Humm recalled, “he turns to me
and goes, ‘What should I say?’”
“I say this by way of saying Larry
was not a demagogue,” Humm said.
“He was thoughtful. He was so nervous
about saying the right thing.”
“The second brief story was
when Ronald Reagan fi nally did
talk about AIDS six years into the
pandemic,” Humm said. “Larry
was there, I was covering it, and
he’s very hopeful — the president is
fi nally going to say something and
maybe we’re going to do something
because so many people are dying.
So he’s sitting there and Reagan
is talking… Kramer wants to applaud,
but he can’t quite get there,
and then Reagan said something
terrible about mandatory testing,
and Larry got up and we got up
and we got to boo that son of a B!”
He added, “All I want to say is don’t
forget who our enemies are and were.”
Multiple speakers refl ected on
Kramer’s fi nal public speech at
the fi rst Queer Liberation March
in 2019 when he delivered remarks
at Central Park. For many younger
individuals, it was the fi rst time
they saw Kramer speak live. During
that speech, Kramer expressed
how much he loved being gay, but
then turned to the fi ght against
AIDS as he struck a more critical
tone and condemned the community
for engaging in online dating
apps instead of pouring their time
into fi ghting back against enemies.
While the speech sparked controversy
among some attendees,
others noted that it represented
the authenticity of Kramer’s voice.
“I just want to say, back in 2019,
how much it meant for us to have
Larry speak,” said Jay W. Walker.
“His spirit was so strong speaking
from the stage of our rally and I
remember the thing that made me
the happiest was seeing the younger
people be mortally offended by
what they were hearing Larry
Kramer say on that stage.”
He added, “Larry, thank you for
speaking, thank you for not caring
what anybody thinks about
what you say. He was speaking the
truth, he was always speaking his
truth, and we are all so much the
better for it. Thank you, Larry.”
To conclude the event, ACT UP
members reiterated the group’s famous
chant in unison: “ACT UP!
Fight back! Fight AIDS!”
GayCityNews.com | JUNE 3 - JUNE 16, 2021 27
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