Paul Graham Popham (October 6, 1941 – May 7, 1987) was an American

gay rights activist A list of notable LGBT rights activists who have worked to advance LGBT rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically. Argentina *Claudia Castrosín Verdú, she and her partner were the first lesb ...

who was a founder of the

Gay Men's Health Crisis The GMHC (formerly Gay Men's Health Crisis) is a New York City–based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization whose mission statement is to "end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected." Hist ...

and served as its president from 1981 until 1985. He also helped found and was chairman of the AIDS Action Council, a lobbying organization in Washington. He was the basis for the character of Bruce Niles in

Larry Kramer Laurence David Kramer (June 25, 1935May 27, 2020) was an American playwright, author, film producer, public health advocate, and gay rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to Lo ...

's ''

The Normal Heart ''The Normal Heart'' is a largely autobiographical play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on the rise of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay founder of a p ...

'', which was one of the first plays to address the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Life and career

Popham was born in

Emmett, Idaho Emmett is a city in Gem County, Idaho, Gem County, Idaho, United States. The population was 6,557 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 5,490 in 2000. It is the county seat and the only city in the county. Emmett is part of the ...

, and graduated from

Portland State College Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two de ...

, Oregon. He was a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veteran who was awarded the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

for valor in 1966, serving as a first lieutenant in the Fifth Air Cavalry. He retired in 1969 as a

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

major in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020, ...

. After his time in the army, Popham worked as a banker on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...

for the Irving Trust Company, leaving as a vice president in 1980. Thereafter, he joined McGraw-Hill Inc. as a general manager. Popham did not become politically active until reading a newspaper article in 1981 about the disease that became known as AIDS. Richard D. Dunne, president of the Gay Men's Health Crisis at the time of Popham's death said: "His history had been quite the opposite from a gay activist. It was only an issue like AIDS that galvanized people like Paul." Popham was diagnosed with AIDS in February 1985 and remained active with GMHC until his illness became too severe. He was survived by his mother, brother, two sisters and his longtime partner Richard DuLong.

''The Normal Heart''

, who later left GMHC to found

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy ...

, frequently fought with Popham. Kramer wrote in '' Reports from the Holocaust'' that, as a result, when writing the

roman à clef ''Roman à clef'' (, anglicised as ), French for ''novel with a key'', is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship b ...

play ''

'', Kramer made the protagonist Ned Weeks (the cypher for himself) be obnoxious and Bruce Niles (the cypher for Popham) be a clearly sympathetic leader, by way of contrition. Bruce Niles was portrayed by David Allen Brooks (

The Public Theatre The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American ...

, 1985), Andrzej Szczytko (

Polish Theatre in Poznań Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin scree ...

, 1987; Polish Television Theatre, 1989), Lee Pace ( Golden Theatre, 2011) and Taylor Kitsch ( HBO television film, 2014).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popham, Paul Graham 1941 births 1987 deaths AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) Gay men HIV/AIDS activists LGBT people from Idaho LGBT people from New York (state) American LGBT rights activists People from Emmett, Idaho Portland State University alumni 20th-century LGBT people