The legendary AIDS activist and playwright Larry Kramer has died at the age of 84. In 1981, he helped found the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the country’s first AIDS organization. Six years later, he helped form ACT UP — the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. The direct action group invaded the offices of drug companies and scientific labs, stormed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, covered the home of Senator Jesse Helms in a giant condom, and conducted many die-ins at the FDA — all in an attempt to force the country to address the AIDS epidemic. Larry Kramer also wrote many plays, including “The Normal Heart.” Last year he addressed the Queer Liberation March in New York City.

Larry Kramer: “Everyone gay I’ve known has been affected by this plague of AIDS. As it has since its beginning, this has continued to be my motivation for everything I’ve done. It’s been a fight I’ve been proud of fighting.”