Kramer

By Mashaun D. Simon

For an hour and a half, Kramer, 72, took LGBT people to task, expressing disdain for what he perceives as passivity and apathy - while also praising gays and lesbians for the positives they possess.

• Related: Kramer to address NLGJA 

Kramer, an author, activist and founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis and the confrontational protest group, ACT UP, expressed disappointment with the community.

"I want so much for us," he said. "But sadly, I continue to be disappointed in us. And the older I get, the less I begin to expect from us."

Dressed in a lavender and white hooded, long-sleeve shirt and a black sport coat, Kramer sat relaxed with his legs crossed as he spoke. He talked about the omission of gays in U.S. history books, said there is a lack of gay and lesbian leadership and maintained that gays and lesbians have no real power.

"We make these little bitty steps that send us in the right directions, but then we make these giant steps backwards," he said. "I do not know why so many of us think we have any power. This population has no power, no power, NO power!"

He said that while some progress has been made, he is not celebrating.

Kramer advocated abandoning the use of "community to describe us."

"Community is no longer the useful word; it's almost demeaning," he said. "We are a population - a large population. The gay population."

One minute he was cursing, the next whispering. One minute serious, the next turning his nose up flippantly whether he was talking about the Human Rights Campaign, the presidential candidates, mainstream media.

"How much do you want it? You have to ask yourself that," he said to the LGBT journalists assembled for his talk. "If you want the freedom, the abilities, you have to find a way. Just don't be so passive. We are capable of so much more."