Normal Heart, Cliche Motive

At the end of April, the HRC reported about the Boradway recreation of one of the most important queer plays to ever grace New York. The Normal Heart is a beautiful play about the forcing of the AIDS epidemic into the public consciousness and the ability of the gay community to make it talked about. Growing up queer, this play is one that I remember shaping my identity. It also started to teach me about the history of the Gay community, the impact of AIDS and the difficulty that arose out of the connection between those two things. It is an important and critical play, to say the least.

The power in this sentiment may be a large part of the reason that the HRC's post upsets me at the slightest level. At face value, I was ecstatic when I started reading this post. Again, it is an important play that I think every member of the gay community needs to read and have as a part of their lexicon. When I thought that this post was about the recognition that this piece of drama deserves, my heart got giddy for the Human Rights Campaign.

Then, my normal heart broke. At the end of the post, I realized that this recognition was shrouded in a somewhat shameless plug for HRC funding. Apparently, a portion of every ticked purchased goes to the HRC. Now, don't get me wrong- I think that supporting an important gay cause, and seeing an important work is a fantastic combination. However, it serves as a reminder that the HRC has not promoted many of the other pivotal queer art works in which they do not have a footing. Where is the recognition without reward? This would be a perfectly wonderful post if it were not the first to occur, combined with a pitch for yet more money to be tossed at the HRC.