‘Who the f**k are you?’ Larry Kramer tears into ‘crazies’ boycotting Stonewall film
Veteran gay rights activist Larry Kramer has torn into queer activists who are boycott of a new film based on the Stonewall riots.
The 80-year-old, who co-founded AIDS charity Gay Men’s Health Crisis and penned AIDS drama The Normal Heart, spoke out about the attacks on Roland Emmerich’s new film.
‘Stonewall’, the upcoming film based on the Stonewall riots, has come under fire amid claims of whitewashing and trans-erasure following the release of the first trailer for the film.
Thousands have signed a petition against the film, claiming based on just the first trailer that veterans of the riots like Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera have been ‘airbrushed’ out of the centre of the story in favour of a fictional gay man.
However, amid impassioned defences of the film from Emmerich and star Jeremy Irvine, Kramer has spoken out to savage the petition – started by a teenager – and lamenting how few genuine activists from the riots are still around.
The activist wrote to Emmerich: “Don’t listen to the crazies. For some reason there is a group of ‘activists’ that insists on maintaining their prime importance and participation during this riot. Unfortunately there seems no one left alive to say ‘it wasn’t that way at all’, or ‘who are or where the f**k were you?’.
“As with so much history there is no way to ‘prove’ a lot of stuff, which allows artists such as yourself (and me I might add) to take essences and attempt to find and convey meaning and truth.
“I sincerely hope this boycott your film shit peters out. We are not dealing with another ‘Cruising’ here. Keeping your film from being seen is only hurting ourselves. Good luck and thank you for your passion.”
Watch the trailer below:
