Socio-Historical Background Review of Related Theories

Stonewall confrontation provoked a firestorm of counter-resistance. The year 1978 was the prime time for gay men. It‘s the time for the sexual liberation movement, not only for the homosexuals, but for the people in general. Especially those who lived in urban areas such as New York City. People have a higher percentage of tolerance towards homosexual in New York City more than anywhere on the planet. Ever since the HIVAIDS go public, most people haven‘t grasped the danger yet and with the misconception from the media, the government opt to stay below the radar concerning HIV. For many people in the United States, the early 1980s was a troubled and troubling time. The radical and countercultural movements of the 1960s and early 1970s, the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, insecurity in the Middle East and economic crisis at home had destabilized Americans‘ confidence in their fellow citizens and in their government the reflections of this statement can be seen from the late Ronald Reagan‘s policy regarding with the HIV impact. How Gay men have a strong relationship to each other is another result of The Stonewall Riot in June 28, 1969 on a Gay bar in Cristopher Street in New York City. It‘s an event that was regarded as one of the main catalyst of LGBT movement. From the homophobic reaction which caused an actual riot, eventually caused the first ever LGBT movement for their rights. Several organizations that existed were Gay Liberation Front. Eventually, the word Gay pride has since become an annual celebration and reminder for people of that history. Ever since then, many gay men eventually come out and join gay communities as their form of alliance and a ‗save haven‘.

C. Theoretical Framework

This undergraduate thesis uses two theories: queer theory and theory of labeling in homosexual and input other data to support the analysis such as the history of HIVAIDS and the history of New York as queer sites. The queer theory is used to analyze the play: how the characters develop in the queer theory sense. How the character emotions are used to play roles in the play: how AIDS develops the character from the queer theory perspective. The labeling theory is used to compare the hypothesis that is found about the historical background knowledge of gay politics with queer theory caused by anger and fear. The journals help the researcher to describe what the situations in New York during the epidemic and how the play is related to the actual people at that time and place.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of the study is The Normal Heart, a play written by Larry Kramer and it was first published in 1985 and first performed in April 21 st 1985 at The Public Theatre, New York City. The book that the researcher use entitled The Normal Heart and The Destiny of Me: Two Plays first published in 2007 with a length of 256 pages. The story revolves around Ned Weeks, a gay journalist whom at the latter stage of the play became a gay activist in the history of New York. According to the story in the play, AIDS has impacted homosexual to be aware to it. The first movement as a gay unity started when one of them died in a horrible way. From that moment on, several gay workers had to become an activist in order to bring awareness among their own people which eventually also takes their lives one by one. Bruce Niles, a closeted homosexual, is one of the activists. When the lover of Bruce Niles died, Bruce