NEW YORK: ACT UP Crashes Ceremony Honoring Home Of Closet Case Ed Koch

Members of ACT UP yesterday crashed the ceremony to announce that the home of late New York City mayor and closet case Ed Koch is being named a historical landmark. That apartment building, NOT incidentally, is also the home of Larry Kramer.

TODAY: Activists To Protest Jamaica At United Nations General Assembly

Via press release:

New York-based LGBT activist group Jamaica Anti-Homophobia Stand will protest Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, on September 26th and 28th in New York as she makes appearances at the 68th UN General Assembly. Simpson Miller’s appearances come shortly after a spate of attacks and murders of gay men and transsexuals in Jamaica. Allies such as Queer Nation, ACT UP and the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens will join in this opportunity to stage a protest Thursday, September 26th at the Ford Foundation (UN Session) in Manhattan at 11:00 a.m. sharp. On Saturday, September 28th, activists will stage another protest against Simpson-Miller at the United Nations Plaza, 1st Avenue and 45th Street, New York, NY. The protests call for an end to Jamaica’s anti-gay laws, which tacitly condone attacks and murders of members of the LGBT community in Jamaica. Consensual sexual intercourse and interaction between homosexuals has been illegal since 1864. Gays are imprisoned for 10 years with hard labor under Jamaica’s Buggery Law and often brutalized and killed by anti-gay mobs if caught or suspected.

The protest begins at 10AM at United Nations Plaza. I'll have photos/video later if available.

NYT Disses AIDS History Exhibit

AIDS In NYC: The First Five Years has been running all summer at the New York Historical Society.  Yesterday the New York Times issued a scathing review.

After seeing this show, a newcomer to this history would be hard pressed to understand the rise of the street-activist group Act Up, the takeover of the Food and Drug Administration headquarters by protesters or the legacy of mistrust between the medical-industrial complex and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

That’s not the only time the exhibition boosts the city at the expense of its queer residents. Here is how it explains the glacial pace of the government’s response to the crisis: “The number of New York voters committed to fight for gay causes was insufficient to form a political bloc strong enough to successfully demand public funds for research, housing, and social services. This was in part because so many gay citizens feared that embracing advocacy would reveal their sexual identities.”

Here, grammar is put through the ringer to avoid blaming homophobic, apathetic New Yorkers for their inaction. But the queer community’s own supposed failings are easy to read.

The show runs throught September 15th. Learn more here.

ACT UP Disrupts Stoli Promo At NYC Bar

Last night members of ACT UP disrupted a Stoli promotion at the popular Splash Bar in Chelsea.  Paul Schindler reports at Gay City News:

It certainly didn’t have the makings of a fair fight, as a group of less than a dozen members of ACT UP/ NY faced off against a crowd of roughly 150 who had been primed with free rounds of Stolichnaya Vodka. But when the activists disrupted the opening of the Most Original Stoli Guy New York competition at Splash bar in Chelsea on July 30 with signs that read, “Russia Kills Gays” and “Dump Stoli,” the crowd watched in bewildered silence. Only the event’s drag queen hostess took up the cause of the evening’s liquor sponsor. “This is what happens when you drink Absolut,” she said, warning the crowd to stick with the Russian import. As Splash security personnel rushed the demonstrators, ripping up their signs and shoving them away from the stage, she added, “Look at those assholes being taken out of the bar.” Then with noticeably more anger in her voice, she continued, “This is America, not Russia.”

[Photo credit: Yoon Seo Nam]

RELATED: Splash Bar announced last week that it will close on August 10th after 22 years in business.

UPDATE: Here's a murky video of the protest.

June 22nd: ACT UP Reunion In NYC

The alumni of ACT UP New York will hold a reunion on June 22nd from 6:30PM to 11PM.

This community-building event, which we hope will be the first of several, will reunite ACT UP members who confronted the government’s malignant neglect of the AIDS crisis and turned our anger into action that saved countless lives.  We are honored to have financial support from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, a leading industry-based philanthropy, and a growing group of private donors.

Gay City News has much more on the event. RSVP at the first link.

Ed Koch Dies At Age 88

Former New York City mayor Ed Koch died this morning at the age of 88.

As mayor from 1978 to 1989, the forceful, quick-witted Koch, with his trademark phrase "How'm I Doing?," was a polarizing figure and the city's constant promoter. Koch died at about 2 a.m. (0700 GMT) at New York-Presbyterian hospital, the spokesman for Koch said. Koch was credited with lifting New York from crushing economic crises to a level of prosperity that was the envy of other U.S. cities. Under his leadership, the city regained its fiscal footing and undertook a building renaissance. But his three terms in office were also marked by racial tensions, corruption among many of his political cronies, the rise in AIDS and HIV, homelessness and a high crime rate. In 1989, he lost the Democratic nomination for what would have been a record fourth term as mayor.

Throughout his life Koch refused to acknowledge his gayness.  Four years ago he spoke to the New York Times about being asked.

“I do not want to add to the acceptability of asking every candidate, ‘Are you straight or gay or lesbian?’ and make it a legitimate question, so I don’t submit to that question. I don’t care if people think I’m gay because I don’t answer it. I’m flattered that at 84 people are interested in my sex life — and, it’s quite limited.”

During his tenure as mayor, Koch was especially despised by AIDS activists, who accused him of slowing the reaction to the epidemic out of fear of being outed himself. None were more disdainful of Koch than Larry Kramer.

A few years after he left Gracie Mansion, Ed Koch ran into gay-rights activist and playwright Larry Kramer in the lobby of their apartment building on Washington Square. Mr. Kramer had famously been a harsh critic of what he believed was Mr. Koch’s slow response to the AIDS crisis, satirizing him as closeted and craven in his 1985 play The Normal Heart, about the syndrome then baffling doctors, and confronting the indifference of public health officials like those in Mr. Koch’s administration. Hundreds of New Yorkers dead or dying from a terrifying new disease and the mayor couldn’t give less than a damn, according to Mr. Kramer. For Mr. Koch, though, it was bygones.  “He was trying to pet my dog Molly and he started to tell me how beautiful it was,” Mr. Kramer once told The New Yorker of the incident, recounted in N.Y.U. Polytechnic historian Jonathan Soffer’s Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City. “I yanked her away so hard she yelped, and I said, ‘Molly, you can’t talk to him. That is the man who killed all of Daddy’s friends.’”

Koch was a regular target of ACT UP.

Koch, a documentary about his life, debuted this week.

NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the favorite to win this year's mayoral campaign, this morning issued a statement on Koch's death.  Via press release:

"All of New York City is in mourning today as we say goodbye to a great mayor, a great man, and a great friend.  Ed Koch dedicated his life to the five boroughs. He loved this city fiercely and it loved him back. He saved us from the brink of bankruptcy, raised our spirits, and restored our city’s reputation in the world. He rebuilt our crumbling infrastructure, adding more than 150,000 units of affordable housing. And after leaving office he continued to make New York a better place, inspiring us through his writing, his activism, and his commitment to change. But he was more than just the sum total of his accomplishments. Mayor Koch was larger than life. He stood taller than the bridge that bears his name. His sense of humor and tenacious spirit personified this town. Ed Koch was New York."

ACT UP Reacts To Uncle Poodle Story

Earlier this week investigative reporter Todd Heywood raised questions about Here Comes Honey Boo Boo cast member Lee Thompson (known on the show as Uncle Poodle), who claims to have had a former boyfriend sent to prison for five years for infecting him with HIV.

Today ACT UP responded to the story via press release.

While it's unfortunate that Thompson became HIV+, pressing charges against his ex-boyfriend in criminal court makes it sound like he was solely responsible for Thompson's infection and therefore is criminal for mishandling that responsibility.  Sex between consenting adults is a shared decision, and the responsibility for protection against disease should not be borne by one person (ie the HIV+ person). Placing sole responsibility on one person undermines the reality that every person should take responsibility for his/her own sexual health.

Criminal outcomes like this don't encourage people to get tested and know their status. They further marginalize a community that's already misrepresented in the media. While it's morally right to know and disclose your status to your partners, status and disclosure can't effectively be legislated in a court. Increasing sex education and access to testing will help create an environment where people want to know and disclose their HIV status instead of fearing legal retribution for it.

Currently, US Congressman Barbara Lee has sponsored a bill called the Repeal HIV Discrimination Act that would require a review of all federal and state laws, policies, and regulations regarding the criminal prosecution of individuals for HIV-related offenses. This bill will go a long way toward rectifying the outdated practices of criminalizing those with HIV and handing down severe sentences based on outdated information about the virus.

Oscar Nomination For AIDS Documentary How To Survive A Plague

The critically-raved AIDS documentary How To Survive A Plague was among the Oscar nominations today in the Best Documentary category. The film's star, activist Peter Staley, issued a one-word response this morning on his Facebook page: "YAY!!"

Nude HIV/AIDS Protesters Storm House Speaker John Boehner's DC Office

More from ACT UP New York: "As the US Congress and President begin negotiating on the so-called fiscal cliff, ACT UP/NY ACT UP/Philadelphia, Housing Works and Student Global AIDS Campaign plan to give Congress a pre-World AIDS Day Message that AIDS Budget Cuts Kill."

UPDATE: Mediaite has a few more photos.

Closeted Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch Reviews How To Survive A Plague

Poz.com blogger and renowned activist Peter Staley tips us that closeted former NYC Mayor Ed Koch has reviewed the AIDS documentary, How To Survive A Plague. Staley notes that Koch fails to mention his own detestable role in thwarting the early response to what would become a global pandemic. From Koch's review:

While demonstrations were necessary to keep the issue on the front burner, Act Up protesters occasionally went too far, e.g., when they entered St. Patrick's Cathedral, took communion hosts from the priest's hands, and threw the wafers to the ground insulting many Catholics. Those wafers are, for Catholics, the Body of Christ.  The person who makes the greatest impact in the film because of his superb speaking ability is Peter Staley. In his New York Times review of this movie, Stephen Holden describes Staley as: "A former closeted Wall Street bond trader with H.I.V. who left his job and helped found the Treatment Action Group, an offshoot of Act Up. Self-taught in the science of AIDS, the group collaborated with pharmaceutical companies like Merck in the development of new drugs."

Others named in the Times' review as major leaders of Act Up, which began its activities in 1987, are Larry Kramer, Robert Rafsky and Ann Northrop, all of whom appear in the film. I don't know if these individuals were ever honored by the White House for what they did in fighting government and powerful corporations. If not, I urge President Obama to do so by presenting them and other leaders recognized by Act Up with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This superb documentary directed by David France should not be missed. Regrettably, when I saw it on a Sunday at 2:00 p.m., there were only about ten other people in the theater. I urge our Chancellor of Education to show the documentary in our public schools. It would teach children a lot of lessons, the chief one being the community can, working together, speak truth to power and win.

Larry Kramer himself has commented on the above-linked review in the manner for which he is best known:

What is this evil man up to as he approaches his death? Is he trying to make up to us? National Medals of Freedom from the White House! Would these provide a big enough enema to clean out his rotten insides? We must never forget that this man was an active participant in helping us to die, in murdering us. Call it what you will, that is what Edward Koch was, a murderer of his very own people. There is no way to avoid knowing that now. The facts have long since been there staring us in the face. If we don't see them, then we are as complicit as he.

Occupy Marches On Wall Street

Today is the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street and this morning protesters are attempting to block access to the Stock Exchange. Click over to Gothamist for their live streaming video.

Occupy Wall Street Turns One

The first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement is this week. In addition to today's concert in downtown Manhattan, there will be a march tomorrow morning. ACT UP will be there. Via press release:

ACT UP NY (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) announced plans to endorse the Sept 17 demonstration celebrating Occupy Wall St.’s first anniversary. Members of ACT UP will join OWS in front of Trinity Church at the corner of Broadway and Wall St at 7AM on Monday calling for a Financial Transaction Tax to Tax Wall St, End AIDS. From 1914 to 1966 in the US, a Financial Transaction Tax (or FTT) was used to calm the stock market and generate funds for much-needed services. Today, economists estimate that a .5% tax on the financial speculation of Wall St institutions could generate hundreds of billions of dollars. AIDS activists are frustrated by the recent lack of attention dedicated to the AIDS crisis by the major political parties. “After watching the Republican and Democratic National Conventions and not hearing AIDS mentioned once, we see Occupy Wall St’s anniversary as a good opportunity to talk about AIDS and propose solutions, like the Financial Transaction Tax, to the AIDS crisis,” said Brandon Cuicchi of ACT UP. “The September 17 protest is an exciting way for us to kick off the 2012 election season.”

Closet Case Ed Koch: Imprisoned Russian Punkers Pussy Riot Are As Bad As ACT UP

Former NYC mayor and closeted homosexual Ed Koch has penned an editorial praising the imprisonment of Pussy Riot, saying the jailed Russian punkers are as bad as ACT UP, who also once demonstrated inside a Catholic cathedral. You may recall that Koch and ACT UP tangled many times during his 80s reign as mayor when he resisted their calls for action. Koch writes:

The Western cultural elite is rallying to the defense of the disrupters in the cathedral. Some approve of the verbal attack on Putin. Others support the denunciation of the Russian Orthodox church leadership and the church disruption because of the church leadership support of Putin. All cited characterize the issue as one of free speech. I do not. I would assume that many Pussy Riot supporters would take a different position, and rightly so, if here in the U.S. a black church were invaded and three men or women engaged in comparable conduct insulting holy places within the church and the pastor.　

I recall when I was Mayor in 1989 and the AIDS activist group Act Up, unjustifiably angry with John Cardinal O’Connor, invaded St. Patrick’s Cathedral and interrupted the Mass, throwing the Communion wafers – which for Catholics are the actual Body of Christ – to the floor.　 Some were arrested.　 So far as I can recall, no one was punished.　 I think the decision of the Russian court to punish a hate crime was just and to be applauded, rather than condemned and ridiculed.　 One can argue concerning the degree of punishment, whether fines rather than jail time should have been imposed, but that is a function of the Russian penalty procedures.　

Famed activist and ACT UP founder Larry Kramer once wrote of encountering Koch while Kramer was walking his dog. As the then mayor leaned over to pet the dog, Kramer said to Fido, "That's the man who killed all of Daddy's friends."

RELATED: Another well-known AIDS activist tips me today that when the Independent Film Channel yesterday invited Koch to a Manhattan screening of the AIDS documentary, How To Survive A Plague, Koch abruptly unsubscribed to the IFC mailing list, to which he'd belonged for years.

TRAILER: United In Anger

Opening next week at NYC's Quad Cinema.

UNITED IN ANGER: A HISTORY OF ACT UP is a unique feature-length documentary that combines startling archival footage that puts the audience on the ground with the activists and the remarkably insightful interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project to explore ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from a grassroots perspective – how a small group of men and women of all races and classes, came together to change the world and save each other’s lives. The film takes the viewer through the planning and execution of a half dozen exhilarating major actions including Seize Control of the FDA, Stop the Church, and Day of Desperation, with a timeline of many of the other zaps and actions that forced the U.S. government and mainstream media to deal with the AIDS crisis. UNITED IN ANGER reveals the group’s complex culture – meetings, affinity groups, and approaches to civil disobedience mingle with profound grief, sexiness, and the incredible energy of ACT UP.

(Via - Boy Culture)

Donna Summer's 1989 Letter To ACT UP

JMG reader and famed AIDS activist Peter Staley sends us a previously unreleased letter that Donna Summer wrote to ACT UP at the height of the controversy about her alleged anti-gay statement. Hit the link and read Staley's account of that time.

25 Years Of ACT UP

Former ACT UP member Rachel Maddow recaps.

ACT UP Chains Themselves Across Wall Street In AIDS Funding Protest

Nine members of ACT UP have just chained themselves across Wall Street as the opening bell rang on New York Stock Exchange floor. Protesters are demanding that a tax be added to all stock transactions in order to fund HIV/AIDS treatments worldwide. The above photo was sent to us from the phone of famed NYC club promoter Chip Duckett. Stand by for developments...

UPDATE: Arrests began immediately.UPDATE II: A press release was just issued.

Activists kicking off action for ACT UP’s 25th Anniversary chained themselves to the entrance to Wall Street’s Stock Exchange just moments before the opening bell this morning. 10 were arrested. AIDS Activists demand a Financial Speculation Tax, a tiny tax on speculative financial transactions that would raise up to $350 billion in the United States annually to fund 15 million people on treatment by 2015 and lead to an eventual end to the AIDS pandemic. The activists had business suits, which allowed them to blend in downtown, but then donned bandit masks and Robin Hood hats. The international campaign for a Financial Speculation Tax has often been called the “Robin Hood Tax Campaign.” “The Financial Speculation Tax Wall Street can afford this extremely tiny tax on the ‘casino economy’ transactions that contributed to the recession. People with AIDS need that money to restore draconian budget cuts to put us on track to end the AIDS pandemic,” said activist Megan Mulholland.

ACT UP To Return To Wall Street

ACT UP will demonstrate on Wall Street tomorrow.

To commemorate its 25th anniversary, the AIDS activist group ACT UP will return to its roots and stage a massive demonstration and march on Wall Street — on Wednesday, April 25 — starting at 11 am at City Hall and ending on Wall Street. Hundreds of protestors are expected to converge for a daylong siege in Lower Manhattan. ACT UP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) will be joined by Occupy Wall Street (OWS), the organization making history this year and last with its public encampments and series of protests against the global financial community. The groups are joining forces to pump up the volume on a growing nationwide outcry for a "Financial Speculation Tax" (Fi.S.T.) on Wall Street. The groups are calling on local, state, and federal legislators to "give Wall Street the FiST," which is needed to fill AIDS funding gaps and — once and for all — provide universal healthcare in the US. It’s time for effective healthcare to be made available to everyone — to the 99%, not just the 1%.

(Via JMG reader Chip Duckett)

ACT UP To Return To Wall Street

ACT UP announces via press release:

To commemorate its 25th anniversary, the AIDS activist group ACT UP will return to its roots and stage a massive demonstration and march on Wall Street — on Wednesday, April 25 — starting at 11 am at City Hall and ending on Wall Street. Hundreds of protestors are expected to converge for a daylong siege in Lower Manhattan.

ACT UP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) will be joined by Occupy Wall Street (OWS), the organization making history this year and last with its public encampments and series of protests against the global financial community. The groups are joining forces to pump up the volume on a growing nationwide outcry for a "Financial Speculation Tax" (Fi.S.T.) on Wall Street.

The groups are calling on local, state, and federal legislators to "give Wall Street the FiST," which is needed to fill AIDS funding gaps and — once and for all — provide universal healthcare in the US. It’s time for effective healthcare to be made available to everyone — to the 99%, not just the 1%.

HomoQuotable - Larry Kramer

"Why can't we, once and for all, bond together to fight for our mutual needs? Where are the leaders who can lead us on this journey to our equality? Where's our army? I don't see either. We face this coming election naked and unprepared and as always exceptionally vulnerable.

"What does that say about how much the gay population wants to fight for these rights that I speak of? I think we help to kill each other by not fighting together to get these rights, by fighting each other instead, and not fighting against all the hate that's always out there coming non-stop from our enemies.

"And just like all the Jews in the world couldn't form Hannah Arendt's army to save all their brothers and sisters, the gays of today once again do the same. You'd think one day we'd learn. You don't get anything unless you fight for it, united and with visible numbers. If ACT UP taught us anything, it taught us that. We had greatness in our hands, but we couldn't quite carry the ball over the goal line.

"I'm not certain I see where that necessary anger and firepower is going to come from as we approach another election, where our rights are going to be on the table for fighting over by one and all, the haters and the non-haters and the ones being hated. At this moment in time, I am not very sanguine. In fact on certain days I get downright depressed.

"All the more reason then to celebrate ACT UP's 25th birthday, at least as a touchstone on our never-ending journey to find our equality and with the hope that one day we can get -- and keep -- our act together. So happy birthday, ACT UP, to all my dead brothers and sisters we couldn't save in time. I'm sorry we're no longer doing much that is productive to celebrate that you lived, that you were here, and that some lucky ones -- all the rest of us -- still are." - Larry Kramer, writing for the Huffington Post.

Read the full essay.