Larry Kramer - Early Life

Early Life

Kramer was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a second child that his parents did not want. The family soon moved to Maryland where Kramer attended school, although they found themselves with a much lower income than the families of Kramer's high school peers. His father pressed him to marry a woman with money, and insisted he become a member of Pi Tau Pi, a Jewish fraternity. Kramer had become sexually involved with a male friend in junior high school, but he dated girls in high school.

He enrolled at Yale University in 1953, but didn't adjust well. He was lonely and his grades were poorer than those to which he was accustomed. He tried to kill himself by overdosing on aspirin because he thought he was the "only gay student on campus". The experience left him determined to explore his sexuality and set him on the path to fighting "for gay people's worth". The next semester, he had an affair with his German professor — his first requited romantic relationship with a man. When the professor was scheduled to study in Europe, he invited Kramer, but Kramer decided not to go. Yale had been a family tradition: his father, older brother Arthur, and two uncles were alumni. Kramer instead enjoyed the Varsity Glee Club while at Yale. He graduated in 1957 with a degree in English.