Faggots

Faggots

By

Larry Kramer

1978

Larry Kramer’s Faggots when first published in the 1970′s provoked a lot of criticism by some in the gay community.  The book was even banned in Manhattan’s only gay bookstore at the time.  The criticism comes from its satirical (and some say negative) portrail of an aspect of gay life in the 70′s.

My look on it today is not objective.  I was not there in the 70′s.  I did not grow up part of an oppressed generation which experienced unfathomable freedom after the stonewall riots.  Sex was a way to express this freedom.  And a lot of gays at that time thought the more the better.  I come from a generation that grew up in a time when AIDS was still decimating the gay population.  I grew up in a time of fear of STI’s and the stigma of HIV/AIDS.

Larry Kramer’s book of course does not criticize gays for having unsafe sex, but its subculture of recreational drugs and promiscuity.  It was after all written before the advent of AIDS or the “plague” as Kramer calls it.  The main character of the book, Fred Lemish, tries to find love in such world, but the other characters are more concerned about where, when and with whom they will be having sex with next.  Something that the since the coming of Grindr and other “dating sites” is again all the rage.

I do not perceive the book as negative.  It is written in a smart, funny, and witty way. I enjoyed its jewish and New York area references.  I look forward to reading Larry Kramer’s latest book to come out this year: “The American People, Volume I, Search for my Heart”.

Tomb of the Diver

Tomba del Tuffatore

(source)

Found by the Italian archeologist Mario Napoli on the 3rd of June 1968 during an excavation of a necropolis near the formerly Greek city of Paestum in Magna Graecia.

In the grave there are several frescos. The most famous shows a man diving into waves. The tob itself contains a corpse of a young man (we can guess the man in the fresco) and several objects that would have been used at a gymnasium. It is estimated that the tob dates from about 470BC.

The image of the diver is a known gay icon and is often associated with the post war Italian photographer Nino Migliori similarly titled “Il Tuffatore”, 1951.

 (source)

Film: Test

Test [2013]

A film about living with the fear of testing positive. The story takes place in 1985 San Francisco. The blood test for HIV has just been developed. The main character goes through life fearing the test (or a positive outcome of it) until he finally decides to take it. Overall good performance by the actors, and beautiful dance scenes. [4*s]

(Source: youtube.com)