Larry Kramer was born in Connecticut in 1935. He earned his degree from Yale, and became a writer in the entertainment industry.

Through his later writings, he sounded the alarm about the AIDS epidemic. He bluntly warned gays against a life of excess, and wrote scathing criticism of the government's inaction to the crisis.

In 1982, Kramer helped form a group called the Gay Men's Health Crisis, to help combat the AIDS epidemic. He also helped form the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power, known as ACT UP. Through its demonstrations, ACT UP garnered widespread media coverage, influencing drug companies to ramp up the development of new AIDS treatments.

Kramer discovered he himself was HIV-positive in 1988. He responded by writing a play, based loosely on his life journey. That journey reveals a man with a dogged determination to fight AIDS with political change.

This Rainbow Minute was read by Tom Miller.

“The Rainbow Minute” is produced by Judd Proctor and Brian Burns and can be heard every weekday at 7:59am, 12:29pm and 2:59pm on WRIR – 97.3fm in Richmond, Virginia, and webcast at wrir.org. It’s also heard internationally on over 200 stations.