caption birth_place subject nationality birth_date period spouse image article_title name occupation
larry kramer in april 2010 bridgeport , connecticut , united states gay community , aids activism american 25 june 1935 1960s -- present david webster 2013 larry kramer 2010 - david shankbone.jpg larry kramer
 larry kramer screenwriter , novelist , essayist , playwright
larry kramer

larry kramer -lrb- born june 25 , 1935 -rrb- is an american playwright , author , public health advocate , and lgbt rights activist .
he began his career rewriting scripts while working for columbia pictures , which led him to london where he worked with united artists .
there he wrote the screenplay for the 1969 film `` women in love '' , and earned an academy award nomination for his work .
kramer introduced a controversial and confrontational style in his 1978 novel `` faggots '' .
the book earned mixed reviews but emphatic denunciations from elements within the gay community for his one-sided portrayal of shallow , promiscuous gay relationships in the 1970s .
kramer witnessed the spread of the disease later known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome -lrb- aids -rrb- among his friends in 1980 .
he co-founded the gay men 's health crisis -lrb- gmhc -rrb- , which has become the world 's largest private organization assisting people living with aids .
kramer grew frustrated with bureaucratic paralysis and the apathy of gay men to the aids crisis , and wished to engage in further action than the social services gmhc provided .
he expressed his frustration by writing a play titled `` the normal heart '' , produced at the public theater in new york city in 1985 .
his political activism continued with the founding of the aids coalition to unleash power -lrb- act up -rrb- in 1987 , an influential direct action protest organization with the aim of gaining more public action to fight the aids crisis .
act up has been widely credited with changing public health policy and the perception of people living with aids -lrb- pwas -rrb- , and raising awareness of hiv and aids-related diseases .
kramer has been a finalist for the pulitzer prize for his play `` the destiny of me '' -lrb- 1992 -rrb- , and has been a two-time recipient of the obie award .
kramer currently lives in manhattan and connecticut .
