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, and working to change legislation and public policies.[1][2][3]
For the City Girls song, see Act Up (song).Abbreviation
ACT UP was formed on March 12, 1987, at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in New York City.[4] Co-founder Larry Kramer was asked to speak as part of a rotating speaker series, and his well-attended speech focused on action to fight AIDS. Kramer spoke out against the state of the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), which he perceived as politically impotent.[5] Kramer had co-founded the GMHC but had resigned from its board of directors in 1983. According to Douglas Crimp, Kramer posed a question to the audience: "Do we want to start a new organization devoted to political action?" The answer was "a resounding yes." Approximately 300 people met two days later to form ACT UP.[2]
At the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, in October 1987, ACT UP New York made their debut on the national stage, as an active and visible presence in both the march, the main rally, and at the civil disobedience at the United States Supreme Court Building the following day.[2][6] Inspired by this new approach to radical, direct action, other participants in these events returned home to multiple cities and formed local ACT UP chapters in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Rhode Island, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and other locations.[2][6][7] ACT UP spread internationally. In many countries separate movements arose based on the American model. For example, the famous gay rights activist Rosa von Praunheim co-founded ACT UP in Germany.
Boston and New England[edit]
"In January 1988, [ACT UP/Boston] held its first protest at the Boston offices of the Department of Health and Human Services, regarding delays and red tape surrounding approval of AIDS treatment drugs. ACT UP/Boston's agenda included demands for a compassionate and comprehensive national policy on AIDS; a national emergency AIDS project; intensified drug testing, research, and treatment efforts; and a full-scale national educational program within reach of all. The organization held die-ins and sleep-ins, provided freshman orientation for Harvard Medical School students, negotiated successfully with a major pharmaceutical corporation, affected state and national AIDS policies, pressured health care insurers to provide coverage for people with AIDS, influenced the thinking of some of the nation's most influential researchers, served on the Massachusetts committee that created the nation's first online registry of clinical trials for AIDS treatments, distributed information and condoms to the congregation at Cardinal Bernard Francis Law's Confirmation Sunday services at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston, and made aerosolized pentamidine an accessible treatment in New England."[7]
In February 1988 ACT UP Boston, in collaboration with ACT UP New York, Mass ACT OUT, and Cure Aids Now demonstrated at both the Democratic and Republican presidential debates and primaries in New Hampshire, and at other events during the presidential race.[46]
During an ordination of priests in Boston in 1990, ACT UP and the Massachusetts Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights chanted and protested outside during the service.[47][48][49] The protesters marched, chanted, blew whistles, and sounded airhorns to disrupt the ceremony.[47] They also threw condoms at people as they left the ordination and were forced to stay back behind police and police barricades.[47] One man was arrested.[50] The demonstration was condemned by Leonard P. Zakim, among others.[50]
Washington D.C.[edit]
Giant condom over Senator's home[edit]
Peter Staley and other activists affiliated with ACT-UP wrapped the Arlington, Virginia home of Senator Jesse Helms in a 15-foot condom on September 5, 1991. The protest condemned the Helms AIDS Amendments, which continued to block funding for education, as well as his ongoing opposition to People With AIDS, including numerous homophobic falsehoods about HIV and AIDS. Helms had actively passed laws stigmatizing the disease, and his staunch attempts to block federal funding for, and education about, HIV and AIDS had significantly increased the death toll. Some of the harmful legislation he enacted is still in place.[60] The condom was inflated and the message on it read: "A CONDOM TO PREVENT UNSAFE POLITICS. HELMS IS DEADLIER THAN A VIRUS." The event was captured live on the news.[61] This was the first action of the affinity ACT group TAG (Treatment Action Guerillas).[62] While the police were called, no one was arrested, and the group was allowed to take the condom down, though they did receive a parking ticket.[62][60] The event was dramatized, with fictionalized characters, in a 2019 episode of the FX television series POSE.[63]
Ashes Actions[edit]
In October 1992 and October 1996, during displays of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and just before presidential elections, ACT UP activists held two Ashes Actions.[64] Inspired by a passage in David Wojnarowicz's 1991 memoir Close to the Knives, these actions scattered the ashes of people who had died of AIDS, including Wojnarowicz and activist Connie Norman, on the White House lawn, in protest of the federal government's inadequate response to AIDS.[64]
Canada[edit]
Vancouver[edit]
Formed in 1989, ACT UP Vancouver began at a public meeting to determine how to respond to the government's inaction on the AIDS crisis,[65] and focused their activism on the provincial political crises surrounding AIDS.[66] The first ACT UP event took place in Robson Square as a public display of art in which three mummies wrapped in linen hung upside down to depict the inaction and neglect of the provincial government on those affected by AIDS. They organized and participated in various protests, including the Les Misérables at the Queen Elizabeth Theater. They protested against the Premier of British Columbia Bill Vander Zalm who was in favor of enacting quarantine legislation (Bill 34). There was a diverse range of activist groups from the community who protested against Bill 34, there were many members from ACT UP, support from the First Nations community, and politically left-leaning people.[67] Despite its impact, the organization eventually dissolved around 1991, following their State of the Province protest.[68] They stated their dissolution was not due to a lack of commitment from members, but rather a lack of expertise and negative press stemming from arrests, which led to other organizations distancing themselves from ACT UP.[69] One of the arrested members, John Kozachenko, was accused of vehicle damage, though he asserted his innocence and the charges were later dropped.[70] Members felt the incident interfered with the groups's ability to initiate reforms in conservative Vancouver.[71]
Montreal[edit]
The AIDS crisis in Montreal was very pronounced and is often underrepresented in discussion about the pandemic. ACT UP worked to end the AIDS pandemic and to combat the extreme homophobia that gay men faced as a result of stigma and stereotypes. ACT UP NYC protested the Fifth International AIDS Conference in 1989 and inspired the creation of ACT UP MTL. They also confronted Montreal prisons about their high rates of HIV, which they suggested were due to condoms not being available to prisoners.[72]
ACT UP MTL was formed in March 1990. Despite discouragement by the provincial government and Minister of Health, who felt that public information about AIDS prevention would encourage homosexuality and drug use, ACT UP MTL was responsible for translating English AIDS prevention resources into French and creating their own informational flyers that were accessible to Quebec's Francophone population. The chapter was also responsible for several demonstrations in a Montreal city park to raise awareness about those living with AIDS and those lost to HIV/AIDS complications. In 1994, the park was officially named Le Parc de l’Espoir and an AIDS memorial monument was constructed.[73]
Halifax[edit]
The creation of ACT UP Halifax is credited to Dan Hart, an activist and leader of the queer movement in Halifax in the 1980s who even hosted many of ACT UP's events in his own home.[74][75][76][77] While this branch of ACT UP is less known in comparison to the larger cities in the United States and Canada, it has made some notable actions during its time. On December 1st, 1990 a protest march was held on Barrington Street. What made this march different was the attendance of Pedro the Donkey, brought by the protestors to be used as a disruption method during the protest.[76][77][75][78] Pedro held true to his purpose and refused to move when protesters were asked to vacate the street. This allowed Halifax's ACT UP group to peacefully protest while staying within the confines of the law.
England and Scotland[edit]
London[edit]
Formed in January 1989, by Rob Archer and Rae Trewartha, ACT UP [London] was the first ACT UP chapter in Europe.[79]
Its first action was at Wellcome's annual shareholder meeting, the parent company of Burroughs Wellcome, the makers of AZT. The first (overpriced) treatment that targeted HIV directly.[79]
This was quickly followed by a protest at Pentonville Prison, where condoms were floated over the walls.[80][81]
The next action was to highlight employment discrimination. It was at Texaco's UK headquarters. It was the first of a serious of protests against Texaco.[82] They later targeted YHA employment discrimination.[83]
The next action blocked traffic at Elephant and Castle, South London's busiest road junction. It called on the government to end the 6 month delay for social security benefits for newly diagnosed people living with AIDS, and to improve the rate. A follow up in October, saw the first arrests in the UK. Three people were arrested including Kenny Lieske from Edinburgh ACT UP.[84] In March 1990, members of ACT UP London chained themselves to the gates of Downing Street on budget day.
ACT UP London's last protest was a march in Kennington on World AIDS Day (1 December 1993). This was on cuts to social security benefits for disability benefits.
The group was revived by Dan Glass in 2014. The second incarnation came about to campaign for PreP to be made freely available on the NHS. Prep is a pill that if taken regularly prevents HIV infection and transmission.[85]
Edinburgh[edit]
Formed in October 1989, by Kenny Lieske, Rob Archer and Tim Hopkins. Edinburgh had the highest number of HIV cases in Europe, most cases being among drug users.
Edinburgh ACT UP's first protest was on 1 December 1989, World AIDS Day After a march along Princes Street ending in a rally where balloons were released. One black balloon was released for each person who had died in Scotland, and one white balloon for each person alive living with AIDS.
Edinburgh ACT UP's next action was actually in London, inside Wellcome's annual shareholders' meeting a year after ACT UP London's protest. It got extensive positive coverage in the Scottish print media (before[86] and after[87] the action) and likewise with the English quality newspapers.[88]
Edinburgh ACT UP's most successful campaign was to change how the government funded AIDS in Scotland. The AIDS budget was poorly allocated often not spent on AIDS services at all. The campaign was to target the funding where it was most needed prioritising regions with the most people with HIV. Edinburgh ACT UP's biggest protest blocked traffic outside of the Scottish Office. It attracted MPs and received extensive media coverage. Within a few months the government had capitulated.[89]
Factionalism in San Francisco[edit]
In 2000, ACT UP/Golden Gate changed its name to Survive AIDS, to avoid confusion with ACT UP/San Francisco (ACT UP/SF). The two had previously split apart in 1990, but continued to share the same essential philosophy. In 1994, ACT UP/SF began rejecting the scientific consensus regarding the cause of AIDS and the connection to HIV, and the two groups became openly hostile to each other, with mainstream gay and AIDS organizations also condemning ACT UP/SF.[104] ACT UP/SF would link up with People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) against animal research into AIDS cures.[104] Restraining orders have been granted after ACT UP/SF members physically attacked AIDS charities that help HIV-positive patients,[105] and activists associated with the chapter have been found guilty of misdemeanor charges laid after threatening phone calls to journalists and public health officials.[106]
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