Reports from the Holocaust: The Story of an AIDS Activist
Cover of the first edition
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| Author | Larry Kramer |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | HIV/AIDS |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
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Publication date
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1989 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 30665452 |
Reports from the Holocaust: The Story of an AIDS Activist is a 1989 book by Larry Kramer; a revised edition was published in 1994. Reports from the Holocaust contains a diverse selection of Kramer's nonfiction writings focused on AIDS activism and LGBT civil rights, including letters to the editor and speeches, which document his time spent at Gay Men's Health Crisis, ACT UP, and beyond.
The central message of the book is that gay men must accept responsibility for their lives, and that those who are still living must give back to their community by fighting for People With AIDS (PWA’s) and LGBT rights, for, as Kramer states, "I must put back something into this world for my own life, which is worth a tremendous amount. By not putting back, you are saying that your lives are worth shit, and that we deserve to die, and that the deaths of all our friends and lovers have amounted to nothing. I can't believe that in your heart of hearts you feel this way. I can't believe you want to die. Do you?" The first publication provides a portrait of Kramer as activist, and the 1994 edition contains commentary written by him that reflects on his earlier pieces and provides insight into Larry Kramer as writer.
Kramer raises the question of whether modern LGBT organizations are complicit in the oppression of their own members and the Holocaust that is AIDS, by cooperating with heterosexual society and passively collaborating in the genocide against gay men that Kramer recognizes AIDS to be, making them into gay "Uncle Toms" that value their own personal finances and prestige at the expense of the LGBT individuals and PWA’s they claim to represent. Toward the goal of preventing this occurrence, the collection contains information for individuals that are committed to social justice but currently corralled in nonprofit LGBT organizations that refuse to adopt a political stance.
Kramer also addresses claims made by leaders of some LGBT organizations that they are unable to act politically, even when faced with a health crisis that he believes must be defined as a plague, because their 501(c)(3) tax status, a classification which permits them to receive tax deductible donations, would be lost. Kramer contends that, from a practical perspective, if the Catholic Church, the Salvation Army, the American Cancer Society, and Sloan-Kettering can pursue political activism while preserving their nonprofit status, so too can organizations who fight for LGBT rights and People With AIDS. He further responds that such organizations cannot hide behind this bureaucratic cover, for these groups may easily reorganize to include a 501(c)(4) division that is not tax exempt, while allowing the tax deductible status of the remaining branches of the organization to continue.
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