Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living

About this crowdfunder

Here at ‘AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power ’ (ACT UP) London Chapter HQ we thought that ‘Die-In’s’ were a strategy that our legendary elders used at the height of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980’s and 1990’s. We thought the gravity of representing actual deaths was a thing of the past.

Unfortunately we were wrong.

Because of this Tory Government’s lethal austerity programme that forces HIV/ AIDS education, prevention and support services to shut down, combined with pharmaceutical greed and government inaction - people are still dying in numbers. Add in the mistaken and widespread belief that HIV / AIDS was resolved in 1996 with the introduction of ‘Anti Retrovirals’ this makes the current situation even more striking. Living and loving with HIV is far more than putting pills into bodies, achieving healthcare for all requires a broader and holistic vision.

The ‘Hostile Environment’ strategy stops many people accessing healthcare in fear of deportation and so HIV+ goes undiagnosed. The closure of womens, trans, migrant, drug-user and other marginalised communities support services adds to rising and unnecessary infections and the ‘Police, Crime and Sentencing Act’ tries to stop us protesting about it all!

Sounds like a bleak picture eh?

Well DON’T FORGET IT WAS ORDINARY PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME who won ‘AntiRetrovirals’ in the first place. PEOPLE POWER CAN WIN against all odds and we NEED YOUR HELP to help us this World AIDS Day to continue the fight for HEALTHCARE FOR ALL and make this ‘Die In’ a day to never forget.

We need to raise £1000 for -

1. Travel costs for our activists to attend.

2. All the materials to create over 100 tombstones for the day.

3. ACT UP T-shirts (all fair trade and ethical by our amazing friends at ‘No Sweat’ printers) to thank all our activists.

Please support us with anything you have and share this crowdfunder link from the rooftops to all your friends, lovers, networks!

“Find the human in yourself by finding the citizen in yourself, the activist, the hero in yourself.” Tony Kushner, author ‘Angels in America’

About our ‘World AIDS Day’ Die-In

‘AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power’ (ACT UP) London Chapter , an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic, are mobilising activists and citizens for a mass ‘Die-In’ protest at an undisclosed location in central London this coming World AIDS Day (WAD)* December 1st 2022 to ‘Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living’.

The protest is to confront this Conservative Government’s lethal austerity programme that forces HIV/ AIDS education, prevention and support services to shut down, combined with pharmaceutical greed and government inaction.

Following two years of COVID-19 pandemic, global and national crises and the Government’s inaction, progress against the HIV pandemic has flattened, resources have diminished, and millions of lives are at risk as a result. A 2022 survey of over 1,100 people who tried to get an appointment to access PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), at sexual health clinics in England between October 2021 to July 2022 found that 68% encountered issues, over a third (35%) waited 12 weeks to be seen, and 57% waited more than 12 weeks.

The Government’s own research further emphasises how urgent the problem is. According to the latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) released in October 2022, almost 3,000 new HIV diagnoses were made in 2021 alone. Testing rates significantly dropped at 20% below recorded in 2019, in all groups apart from gay and bisexual men. However, the Government data continues to collect demographic information using antiquated binary options for gender and fails to investigate racial and ethnic minority discrepancies, putting the most vulnerable communities at even greater risk.

Against this background and the ongoing attempts at silencing the most vital discussions of society through anti-protest laws and targeted attacks against the trans community, ACT UP are calling for collective action.

ACT UP is calling on all activists and allies to join their efforts for World AIDS Day 2022 by contacting the group directly. Please contact us - details below.

About ACT UP

We are all grassroots unpaid volunteer activists. AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) are United in Anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis, along with the broader inequalities and injustices that perpetuate it. See ‘How AIDS Activists Used ‘Die-Ins’ to Demand Atten tion to the Growing Epidemic.' We organise at the grassroots because we believe it is essential to successfully confront injustice and win. We are mobilising activists and citizens for a mass protest ‘Die-In’ at an undisclosed location in central London this coming World AIDS Day (WAD) (2) December 1st 2022 to ‘Remember the Dead and Fight for the Living’. Please join us.

Key Demands for the Protest

1. Silence = Death - Equal healthcare for ALL in our society based off of need and science NOT identity politics. Living and loving with HIV is far more than putting pills into bodies, achieving healthcare for all requires a broader and holistic vision. The ‘Hostile Environment’ strategy stops many people accessing healthcare in fear of deportation and so HIV+ goes undiagnosed. The closure of womens, trans, migrant, drug-user and other marginalised communities support services adds to rising and unnecessary infections and the ‘Police, Crime and Sentencing Act’ tries to stop us protesting about it all! That is why we are pleased to be mobilising harder than ever for this World AIDS Day.

2. End Pharmaceutical Greed - An end to unfair medicine pricing, corporate tax inversion and deception about research and development costs.

3. Tax the rich to obtain satisfactory health for all - Introduction of a wealth tax, raising taxes on corporate profits and on the top 5% of earners, closing tax dodging loopholes and abolishing non-dom status, increasing capital gains tax and introducing new taxes on speculation.

‘It is the 21st century and although a lot has changed, some has not and it’s in urgent need of elimination, via education, laws and radical and direct action. I am talking about the stigma of HIV and AIDS which is still prevalent in many countries including the West. This ignorance and apathy is dangerous and unacceptable. Therefore, as a gay political woman, I support and participate in direct action, radical and using my body. I yearn for an HIV/AIDS free world, full of knowledge, acceptance, kindness and love. For all people of all persuasions affected by the politics of the virus and the virus. And I bellow: ACT UP, Fight back, Fight AIDS!’ Stav Bee

Contacts

Website - http://actuplondon.wordpress.com/

Email - [email redacted]

Insta - @actup_london @danglassmincer