Sep 14, 2007Quickie Link: Larry Kramer: Activists Aren’t What They Used to Be
By vanrozenheim
(USA) - Kramer had set a tone for his appearance at the convention, and he continued with it two days later when he attracted a capacity crowd to an auditorium in the hotel. The tone was one of dismay with the Gay rights movement today. The activist — who once roared but now almost whispers into the microphone — accused LGBT people of being “passive” and “apathetic” today. Freedom cannot be won without a fight, he warned. “If you want the freedom, [then] you have to find a way,” Kramer said. “Just don’t be so passive. We are capable of so much more.” He lashed out at society in general and the education system for failing to teach the history of Gay and Lesbian people to students. Kramer called on people to get angry and resume “in their face” activism like he and others employed in the 1980s when Gay men were dying daily from AIDS.
