Sean Strub

A little more than 20 years ago, Tom Viola and I produced David Drake's landmark play, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, at the Perry Street Theatre in Greenwich Village.

It became one of the longest running one-person shows in New York theatre history, with  more than 100 productions of it around the world to date. 

I'm excited to announce that Broadway Cares is producing a special one-night 20th anniversary benefit performance of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me on May 20 at the fantastic 599-seat Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at 524 West 59th Street (John Jay College). Tickets just went on sale today and we're expecting them to sell fast.

 

David has reconceived the play and will be joined by an ensemble cast, directed by  Tony nominee Robert LaFosse (yes, THAT, Robert LaFosse, from Dancin' and Jerome Robbins' Broadway) and featuring Brandon Cordeiro (Pearl at Kumble Theater of the Performing Arts), two‐time Tony Award nominee Robin De Jesús (La Cage aux Folles, In the Heights), two‐time Tony nominee André De Shields (The Full Monty, Play On!), Claybourne Elder (Bonnie & Clyde), Tony nominee Rory O'Malley (The Book of Mormon), Anthony Rapp (Rent), Wesley Taylor (Smash, The Addams Family), Chad Ryan (Chicago premiere of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me), Donald C. Shorter, Jr. (La Cage aux Folles national tour), Aaron Tone (BearCity 2) and one of my very favorite actors, Tony winner BD Wong (M. Butterfly).

I knew I loved David's work from the moment I first heard him perform one of his Tommy Bobby Sherman monologues in 1990 at an ACT UP benefit at the Pyramid Club, (hosted by Ryan Landry and produced by Dan Baker).  When David performed  vignettes in the car during a memorable road trip we took to Key West with the late Stephen Gendin and Mark Aurigemma, I knew I had to help bring his work to a bigger audience.

But what I didn't realize initially was how perfectly the play reflected the activist zeitgeist of that early 90s moment. The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me was at the crux of profound cultural change; the year the show first opened, 1992, was a landmark year in the battle for LGBT equality and preceded by only a few years the introduction of protease therapy that changed the course of the HIV epidemic in the United States.

In the intervening two decades, we have seen much progress. Yet HIV-related stigma has, sadly, increased. While fear of casual contagion has lessened, other components of stigma, like marginalization, prejudgment and the "othering" of people with HIV, has gotten significantly worse.

Today, people with HIV are increasingly defined through the prism of our potential to infect others, as inherently dangerous viral vectors who must be identified, tested, tagged, reported, regulated, controlled, criminalized and incarcerated. But the treatment for stigma isn't found at a pharmacy, it is accomplished by empowering the stigmatized, educating the public and providing a path to justice for all. 

That's the message so eloquently conveyed in The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, why the play has become a classic and why I hope you can join us on May 20.  Bring a young activist as your guest to share with them the camaraderie, passion and hope that so powerfully drove us at that time.

David's first performances of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me were as benefits for community organizations, and he's continuing that tradition on May 20. "This performance benefits two organizations very close to my heart, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Sero Project are, respectively, headed by Tom Viola and Sean Strub, my friends who believed in my story from the very start."  David, your story, is the story of so many of us and it is our belief in each other that has carried us to this day.  Thank you.

 

Join Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Sero Project, and an incredible cast and audience to make this May 20 benefit performance not just a magical evening, but another turning point where we usher in a new generation of activists to carry on the battle so many of us have waged our entire lives.

 

Tickets start at $40 and can be purchased online at broadwaycares.org or by calling 212.840.0770, ext 268. VIP tickets also are available and include a reception with the cast and other benefits.  And those of you who can afford VIP tickets, you know who you are and please know how much your support will be appreciated.

 

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Sero Project is a national alliance of people with HIV working to realize the vision of the 1983 Denver Principles manifesto to empower people with HIV and combat HIV‐related stigma, discrimination and criminalization. For more information, visit seroproject.com, like them on Facebook at facebook.com/TheSeroProject and follow on Twitter at twitter.com/theseroproject.

Not long ago, I watched Positive Women: Exposing Injustice, a 45 minute documentary produced by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network about how HIV criminalization affects women. It is an amazing film and not only addresses the impact of criminalization, but also conveys brilliantly how complicated--and potentially dangerous--HIV disclosure can be, especially for women.

Next Thursday, March 7, Positive Women: Exposing Injustice will be screened along with Sero Project's short documentary, HIV is Not a Crime, with a panel discussion afterwards, at the SVA Theatre at 333 Eighth Avenue in New York. Broadway Cares, Housing Works, Visual AIDS, the International Community of Women with HIV/AIDS and Positive Women - USA are partners in the event and it is going to be a fascinating and thoughtful evening.

Panelists include Allison Duke, director of Positive Women: Exposing Injustice; Richard Elliott, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; Robert Suttle, assistant director of the Sero Project (seen in HIV Is Not a Crime) and Jessica Whitbread, global chair of the International Community of Women Living with HIV (featured in Positive Women: Exposing Injustice). I'll be moderating.

We still have a limited number of free tickets available. If you're interested, click here to RSVP to Broadway Cares. Sorry, limit is two tickets per person.

It's a great chance to enjoy two excellent films, connect with other advocates combating HIV criminalization and learn more about how we can stop HIV stigma, discrimination and criminalization. I'm looking forward to it.

An Atlanta-based blog reports that Lee Thompson, better known as "Uncle Poodle" on TLC's "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" program has confirmed not only that he has tested positive for HIV antibodies, but that he pressed charges against his former boyfriend from whom he believes he acquired the virus. 

The partner, Thompson says, was sentenced to five years in prison.  In the interview, Thompson says he "hesitantly" decided to press charges and that "it was the right thing to do." 

There's no reference in the interview to whether or not Thompson ever asked his former boyfriend about his HIV status or what conversations they did or did not have about HIV prevention or behavioral boundaries.  Thompson says he was "adamant" about getting tested regularly for HIV, noting he was negative mid-March and then diagnosed positive in May. 

Then he says: "I would have been cool with his HIV status if he had been honest. I don't have an issue with the disease. I would have known how to protect myself."  No, Lee, you already knew how to protect yourself.  You chose not to and now you're making it someone else's fault.

When people are newly diagnosed they often are in a state of semi-shock, sometimes for an extended period, and sometimes make decisions they later regret.  I don't think anyone should put another person at risk of harm, but Thompson's failure to take responsibility for protecting himself is no reason for him to put someone else in jail.

Uncle Poodle, if you read this, I wish you the best of luck managing your health situation, but I hope you'll reconsider the vindictive course you have taken against your former partner. 

For more information about HIV criminalization--or to join the campaign to stop it--go to www.SeroProject.com.

For many of us, the concerns about "treatment as prevention" (using drugs before or after exposure to HIV to prevent infection by the virus as opposed to using drugs after infection to stop it from progressing) isn't about whether or not it is effective on an individual basis in preventing HIV transmission. It is.

The HIV Prevention Trials Network's 052 trial showed a 96 percent reduction in the risk of infecting others among those who took drugs that effectively suppressed the virus. It would have been 100 percent if the trial hadn't included the first few weeks of therapy (when the virus hasn't been adequately suppressed). I can't find a single documented case in the literature where someone who was known for certain to have an undetectable viral load has actually transmitted the virus. If anyone else finds such a case, please let me know.

NAPWA, the National Association of People With AIDS, announced today that their President and CEO, Frank Oldham, is resigning effective at the end of the year.

This is important news, because it brings NAPWA to a critical juncture.  NAPWA is an organization that has been struggling for many years; this change in leadership presents an opportunity to start fresh.  I've been critical of NAPWA in recent years, even as I admire and respect the dedication and passion of staff and board members. 

Frank Oldham, in particular, is someone I have known and liked for more than 25 years; he is part of a generation of AIDS activists whose lives were hijacked by the epidemic.  He didn't ask for this career.  Like so many others, when his community needed him, he answered the call, giving everything he could to improve the lives of people with HIV.  He deserves our gratitude and respect.  I hope he will continue to make his immeasurable experience and vast network available to the AIDS movement for many years to come.

Last weekend I participated at the Sex and Justice conference at the University of Michigan, organized by Trevor Hoppe with the support of David Halperin and other. Glad to see Bill Dobbs, Amber Hollibaugh, Robert Suttle, Todd Heywood, Deon Heywood and many others sharing perspectives on important work.

The discussion about how HIV criminalization, criminalization of sex work and sex offender registries are inextricably linked was fascinating.  There was an almost palpable longing for these related efforts to come together as a cohesive movement with a broader base. Maybe the time is right for that to happen.

From Nan Hunter's blog (click here to read more):

I have been to (far too) many conferences, but the one that wrapped up yesterday at the University of Michigan was one of the best I have ever attended. My bet is that it will mark an important new stage in advocacy on sexuality and law-related issues. The Sex and Justice Conference was one of those rare gatherings where the focus was on both serious intellectual engagement and methods of advocacy that are smart, principled and impassioned...