Queereaders discussion

I just read this for one of my LGBTQ bookclubs. I can see why this was recommended. Startling and sad to see the parallels between the early days of AIDS when there was little known about the virus and this first year of COVID-19. So many similarities in the way the politics are playing out even though the reasons behind why they are playing out that way are different.

I was taken aback at how much resistance there was by gay men themselves to the message "stop having sex". (This is before condoms were identified as effective prevention from transmission.). The rallying cry of "you can't tell me what to do" is the same we are hearing now regarding masks.

Has anyone else read this or seen a live performance? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Here's my review.

I saw a live performance, but it was ages ago.

There was a fantastic audio version from 1993, produced as a benefit for Broadway Cares at the Public Theater, which I would recommend if you can get your hands on it. (I fondly recall Stockard Channing's performance as Emma Brookner, especially.)

(And, in case it's not on your radar already, Ryan Murphy made a film adaptation for HBO in 2014. I've not seen it, so can't offer an opinion on that one, but it looks like it's available now on HBO Max.)

I've been fascinated to see how many of the scientists who were prominent in the AIDS crisis have been heroes of COVID times (for example, this article about Tony Fauci and Larry Kramer's long history: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/he... ) and I think it's so cool that Rachel Maddow often has virology experts on who she contextualizes in terms of her admiration of their work based on her former life as an AIDS activist (Dr. David Ho is a memorable one, but she had another scientist on just last week who she intro'd in a similar way).

I listened/read TNH so long ago that I don't remember much about it other than how impressive its anger was. As someone who grew up too young to have much direct experience of the AIDS crisis, Kramer's raging polemic helped me imagine a little more clearly what that world might have looked like, how much the queer folks of the generation before me had to endure. Sounds like it may be worth revisiting in 2021, may have some new resonances!

Thanks for these sources. I bet Stockard Channing was amazing. I might try to check out that audio production.

I really was surprised at how much 2020 echoed the early ‘80s though a big difference of course, is public awareness. Whether you thought Covid-19 was fake news or real, you definitely heard about it! I started high school in 1981 and didn’t become aware of AIDS until 1984. That’s my earliest recollection of it being in news I accessed.