ACT-UP, or the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power, "is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals ... committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis." - from the ACT-UP/New York website.

ACT-UP was formed in March of 1987 at the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in New York. Three weeks later they held their first protest on Wall Street. As of 2004 there are over 70 chapters worldwide and thousands of members. ACT-UP uses non-violent direct action and often civil disobedience to bring attention to the AIDS crisis. ACT-UP also sought to stem the spread of HIV by engaging in frank public discussions about AIDS, sexuality and sexual practices.

They are well known for their provocative demonstrations and their famous slogan/logo: "Silence = Death" with an uninverted pink triangle, which is reminiscent of the pink triangle assigned to accused homosexual men in Nazi prison and death camps.

In the early 1990s, activists from ACT-UP founded two other direct action gay rights groups, Queer Nation and Lesbian Avengers.

External links

• ACT-UP New York (http://www.actupny.org/)
• ACT-UP San Francisco (http://www.actupsf.com/)