POZ

A Very Enduring Kiss

Twenty-one years after David Drake’s The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me gave voice to an era’s anger and passion, the blond, blue-eyed showman is still living with moxie.

On May 20 in New York City, the show will have a one-night, multi-actor revival to benefit Broadway Cares and The Sero Project, POZ founder Sean Strub’s campaign to turn back HIV criminalization laws throughout the United States. POZ talked with Drake, who’ll turn 50 in June, about the sudden fame he found with the show, the shame he felt around his own HIV infection in 1998, and how he has reclaimed his young, carefree spirit through a breezy new drag persona named Tawny.

Read more… http://www.poz.com/articles/david_drake_QA_401_23847.shtml

Specialty Pharmacies Unscripted

by Larry Kramer

The founder of ACT UP fights back after being told he couldn’t use his pharmacy of choice.

On November 19, I received a curt letter from Empire BlueCross BlueShield, which has insured me since I worked as a trainee at Columbia Pictures in 1958 or so.

“Our records show that you are getting the medicines(s) listed below from a retail pharmacy. It is important to note that beginning 01/01/2013, your medicine must be filled through our specialty pharmacy, CuraScript … If you stay with your retail pharmacy, the medicine won’t be covered.”

Enclosed was a list of most of my anti-HIV and hepatitis B drugs that I am taking. It is a complicated list. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of complicated illnesses. My pharmacist at Bigelow knows me and my list and my doctors well. I rushed over to show the letter to Bruce, who shook his head sadly. “It’s happening all over the place.” Bigelow is the oldest apothecary in America. I asked him, “But why are you being punished, instead of the greedy drug companies? Why am I being punished?” OK, we’ve been here before.

Read more: http://www.poz.com/articles/larry_kramer_curascript_2676_23317.shtml

Former Mayor Ed Koch Reviews HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE
A blog by Peter Staley

Amazing how he fails to mention his own shameful role in this film, or this history.

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Larry Kramer added a comment : “What is this evil man up to as he approaches his death? Is he trying to make up to us? National Medals of Freedom from the White House! Would these provide a big enough enema to clean out his rotten insides? …”

tomindisguise:

Reading about Larry Kramer in this months Attitude magazine has spurred me on to do a bit of research into the man himself. He is quite an interesting character and the article touches a little on how he thinks the younger gay generation appear to have turned their back on gay history and how their modern rights and health have been shaped by past events.

Larry Kramer is indeed a controversial / interesting / pioneering figure in the Gay rights and HIV/AIDs advocacy movements. Click here to watch our video interview with Kramer.

The Normal Heart Racks Up Tony Nominations

The Broadway revival of The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s semi-autobiographical 1985 play about the rise of AIDS in mid-’80s New York, has garnered five Tony nominations, according to the American Theater Wing (the organization that awards Tonys). Click here to find who’s in the running.

The AIDS Icon talks about the Broadway debut of his timless play The Normal Heart. Watch our video interview with writer and activist Larry Kramer, founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis and ACT UP.