ACT UP at 25

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, better known as ACT UP, held its first major action -- a demonstration on Wall Street demanding access to experimental HIV drugs and an end to discrimination against people with AIDS -- on March 24, 1987. The group's eye-catching graphics and savvy use of the media received widespread attention, and soon ACT UP chapters were springing up across the U.S. and around the world.

Today, ACT UP is credited with lasting changes in the way new drugs are developed and approved, clinical trials are conducted, and healthcare providers relate to patients. Persistent activism, combined with the efforts of dedicated researchers and a bit of good luck, led to effective antiretroviral therapy that enables HIV positive people who receive timely treatment to have a near-normal life expectancy.

"The annual [NIH AIDS research] budget soared after the country saw our anger and determination, and those billions of dollars spent on basic research led to the treatment breakthroughs we take for granted today," according to early ACT UP/New York member Peter Staley.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary, several recent articles have looked at ACT UP's history and legacy, as well as what still remains to be done. Two documentaries -- David France’s How to Survive a Plague, and Jim Hubbard and Sarah Schulman's United In Anger -- have recently premiered. Anniversary protests are being planned for both New York and San Francisco in the coming weeks.

• 25 years later, activists recall ACT UP's legacy, Liz Highleyman, Bay Area Reporter.
• The Living After the Dying, Frank Bruni, New York Times.
• ACT UP 25 years later, Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Salon.com.
• Pictures from a Battlefield, David France, New York Magazine.
• "How to Survive a Plague": As ACT UP Turns 25, New Film Chronicles History of AIDS Activism in U.S., Democracy Now.
• AIDS Is Not Over action in San Francisco, April 6.
• ACT UP 25th Anniversary action in New York, April 25.

3/27/12