AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power

The AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power, ACT UP, was formed in March 1987 and known for its direct action response to the HIV/AIDS crisis which would gain media attention, helping to promote awareness of the epidemic which was devastating LGBTQIA+ communities. The organization successfully demonstrated at several institutions with some notable events targeting Wall Street, the Catholic Church, the National Institutes of Health, and perhaps their most memorable being the FDA which led to a single day shut-down.

At the time of its formation, the LGBTQIA+ community had watched Former President Ronald Reagan have no response to the growing crisis. The actions organized by the ACT UP advocates were necessary to push the narrative, which in many places marginalized queer voices and treated the health crisis as a divine punishment.

Related Events

• ACT UP Protests Catholic Mass (1989)
• ACT UP Infiltrates the NYSE (1989)

External Videos

• Inside Edition, "How ACT UP Flipped the Script on AIDS and Gay Rights" (2021)
• NBC, "Radical AIDS Activist Group ACT UP" (2016)
• ABC7NY, "The Vault: ACT UP protesters tie up traffic in lower Manhattan in 1988" (2020)