Edmund White witnessed the Stonewall riots, just the beginning of a revolutionary life
By John Russell, LGBTQ Nation, Tuesday, October 11, 2022
The author shares intimate details of his life as a writer and activist, including the new graphic novel adaptation of ‘A Boy’s Own Story.’
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You also co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC).
I was the first president of [GMHC], and I thought we were kind of cowardly and dim-witted because all we could think to do was to have a disco party to raise some money. Whereas in ’83, I moved to France, and I was already friends with [French philosopher] Michel Foucault. He died in ’84 of AIDS, so with his surviving partner, I helped to start the gay organization over there, which was called AIDES. And whereas [in the U.S.] we threw a disco party, they went to the minister of health and worked out a whole plan. In other words, everything was much more grown-up and professional in France, whereas in America, I think it was a sign of how beaten down we were that we didn’t think big at all.
Foucault News 