Homosexual leader lashes heavy criticism to gay movement

Dallas, Texas, May 9, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A leader in the national homosexual community has admonished homosexuals for their inability to take responsibility for their actions and for the decay of their community structures.

Larry Kramer, playwright and founder of ACT UP, delivered his message in a speech in New York City after the presidential elections in November. Excerpts from his speech were published last week in the Dallas Morning News.

“I hope we all realize that, as of Election Day, gay rights are officially dead,” Kramer had said.

The 69-year-old interpreted the re-election of George W. Bush and the results of the ballot measure on same-sex marriage to mean that “almost 60 million of our so-called ‘fellow’ Americans voted against us.”

“Almost 60 million people whom we live and work with every day think we are immoral,” he said, noting that “moral values” was one of the top reasons voters gave for their choice.

He criticized the lack of structure and organization, and the ongoing decay of the homosexual community. “Whatever structure the gay world had is gone. Our organizations stink. We have no power. The cabal that runs this country disdains us totally,” he wrote.

Kramer also addressed the homosexual community’s increasing problem with methadone addiction and the ongoing problem of engaging in unprotected sex.

He cited the staggering statistics that in 1990 46 percent of homosexuals in San Francisco were having sex without condoms; 60 percent of the current syphilis in America are homosexuals and HIV infections are up by 40 percent.

“Grow up,” he challenged members of the homosexual community. “Behave responsibly. Fight for your rights. Take care of yourself and each other. These are the answers.”

He said the homosexual community brought the current plague of AIDS upon itself.

“From the very first moment we were told in 1981 that the suspected cause was a virus, gay men have refused to accept our responsibility for choosing not to listen, and, starting in 1984, when we were told it definitely was a virus, this behavior turned murderous,” he said.

In his speech, Kramer claimed responsibility for having “murdered” some men by having unprotected sex with them.

“We've been so concerned about showing the world a united front. We feel the need to say that everything gay people do is good, and it simply isn't so,” he said bluntly, calling the homosexual community to reorganize and reflect. “We must have an honest discussion among ourselves about what's good and what isn’t.”

Kramer’s original speech was published under the title "The Tragedy of Today's Gays" (Tarcher/Penguin).