Larry Kramer will take on COVID-19 in his latest play

Larry Kramer is planning to take his epic battle and chronicling of the AIDS pandemic to a new one: the COVID-19 crisis.

At 84, Kramer already begun work on An Army of Lovers Must Not Die. The writer told The New York Times that the plot deals with “gay people having to live through three plagues.”

The three plagues are COVID-19, HIV/AIDS and the decline of the human body: in other words, aging. True to form, Kramer intends the play as an indictment of US government complacency.

“The government has been awful in both cases,” Kramer told the Times. “They were terrible with AIDS and they’re terrible with this thing. One wonders what will become of us.”

Kramer was an outspoken critic of the Reagan White House’s inaction on the plague in the early 1980s. Although the disease was identified in 1981, Reagan refused to mention it publicly until a news conference in 1985 and then in speeches in 1987. By then, thousands already had died and preventable transmissions spread like wildfire. At least 30 million human beings have lost their lives since then, with the vast majority resulting from heterosexual transmissions. It took Reagan’s Christian conservative Surgeon General, C. Everette Koop to battle the disease almost single-handedly from his bully pulpit, refusing to give in to the inaction of antigay activists within the White House who saw the disease not as a virus but as God’s punishment for gay sex.

The world has had the misfortune of two pandemics falling under Republican Administrations who prioritize politics over public health.

In response to Reagan’s inaction, Kramer founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis to provide services to those hard hit by AIDS as well as ACT UP, a street protest group that demanded prevention and treatment for the disease.

Kramer is also known for his novel Faggots about queer culture in the 1970s and The Normal Heart, a play about the toll of AIDS.

This year he published volume II of American People: The Brutality of Fact. Volume I, American People: Searching for My Heart was published in 2015.

Related: The true love story behind Larry Kramer’s classic, furious novel ‘Faggots’

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Trump Wanted to Let Coronavirus ‘Wash Over’ America Before Fauci Pointed Out That ‘Many People Would Die’ – WaPo

In a Situation Room meeting last month, Donald Trump told Dr. Anthony Fauci that he wanted to let coronavirus “wash over the country” before it was pointed out to him that “many people would die.”

The Washington Post reports: “It was the day the administration was adding Ireland and the United Kingdom to its travel restrictions, and Trump wanted to understand why talk of ‘herd immunity’ — allowing the coronavirus to sweep a nation largely unchecked, with the belief that those who survived would then be immune — was such a bad idea. ‘Why don’t we let this wash over the country?’ Trump asked, according to two people familiar with his comments, a question other administration officials say he has raised repeatedly in the Oval Office.”

ICYMI: Dr. Fauci Reflects on Gay Community’s Battle Against HIV/AIDS in Remarks About COVID-19’s Disproportionate Toll on Black People: WATCH

The paper adds: “Fauci initially seemed confused by the term “wash over” but became alarmed once he understood what Trump was asking. ‘Mr. President, many people would die,’ Fauci said. The president said he understood but since then has repeatedly made clear he wants to reopen things soon — although significant roadblocks remain.”

Read the full story HERE.

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Trump Wanted to Let Coronavirus ‘Wash Over’ America Before Fauci Pointed Out That ‘Many People Would Die’ – WaPo

Florida Police Chief Berates Department with Homophobic Rant About Gay Police Officer Who Died of COVID-19: WATCH

Dale Engle, the chief of police in Davie, Florida, allegedly responded to police employees’ concerns about contracting coronavirus by ordering them into formation in a parking, ordering an inspection, and berating them about raising issues with a homophobic tirade about gay BSO Deputy Shannon Bennett, who is believed to be the first officer to have died from the coronavirus in that state.

Engle’s behavior was brought to the attention of Davie town administrators by Mike Tucker of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP).

Explained Tucker in a letter to Davie town administrator Richard Lemack: “Engle then proceeded to berate these members about the issues they raised, yelling about their ‘baseless’ concerns. During this, members were shocked when Chief Engle cited the tragic death of BSO Deputy Shannon Bennett who recently succumbed to the COVID-19 virus. Chief Engle allegedly yelled about a ‘backstory’ which proclaimed that Deputy Shannon Bennett contracted and died from the virus because he was a ‘homosexual who attended homosexual <sexual> events’ He intimated that it was because of this homosexual lifestyle that Deputy Bennett first contracted a serious underlying disease which aggravated the COVID-19 virus and lead to his death. His rant continued for some time, with the presumable desired effect of intimidating the members and discouraging any other department employees from complaining or expressing concerns in the future.”

Engle reportedly tried to walk back his remarks in a later email to staff, saying they had been taken out of context.

Towleroad obtained a copy of the letter, which you can read below.

Lemack issued a statement on Saturday saying Engle has been placed on administrative leave: “As of April 11, 2020, Police Chief Dale Engle was placed on Administrative leave pending further review of allegations brought forward by the Fraternal Order of Police. The allegations will be investigated in accordance with the Town’s Equal Employment Opportunity compliance policy by outside counsel. The Town will have no further comment until the investigation is completed to protect the integrity of all involved.”

Local 10 adds: “Bennett, 39, was beloved by his community and by the kids where he was a school resource officer in Deerfield Beach.  He’s believed to be the first law enforcement officer in Florida to die from the virus. The Broward Sheriff’s Office said he died ‘in the line of duty.’ … ‘For any reference to be made to the tragic passing of one of our brothers at the Broward Sheriff’s Office is , if true, is absolutely not only unacceptable but is just shameful. And it’s not indicative of the professionals of the Town of Davie that we know,’ said Tucker. Officials said that Engle does deserve due process and there will be an investigation.”

Watch Local 10’s report:

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Florida Police Chief Berates Department with Homophobic Rant About Gay Police Officer Who Died of COVID-19: WATCH