I spent a few quiet afternoons reading his 1978 debut novel Faggots, a satirical (yet clearly autobiographical) look at the lives of gay men in 1970s New York City that he wrote just before AIDS made him a figurehead of American activism. However, the ghost of Larry Kramer very much remained in my own head as I made my way through a Pride month unlike any other.
But 'these times' looked very different on May 27th than they did on May 29th, or June 2nd, or pretty much any day since. I thought the fearlessness Kramer showed in the face of HIV/AIDS might teach us all a little about surviving in these times. (If you don't know much about Kramer, please change that immediately by watching the documentary Larry Kramer in Love and Anger - currently available on Crave and HBO Max.) Kramer's legacy was forged during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, during which he played a pivotal role in combating governments and institutions who could not give less of a fuck about the lives of the marginalized people that disease was killing. When I decided to put this column on a brief hiatus, I was working on a reflection on the life of legendary gay activist, writer and shit disturber Larry Kramer, who passed away of pneumonia on May 27th. Queeries 5 pioneering LGBTQ Canadian films you can watch for free right now
