Editing ACT UP (section)

{{short description|International AIDS activism, direct action and advocacy group}}
{{for|the City Girls song|Act Up (song)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox organization
| name                = AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power
| image               = ACT UP logo.png
| image_border        =
| size                = <!-- default 200px -->
| alt                 = Logo
| caption             =
| abbreviation        = ACT UP
| formation           = {{start date and age|1987|03|12}}
| type                = <!-- [[Governmental organization|GO]], [[Non-governmental organization|NGO]], [[Intergovernmental organization|IGO]], [[International nongovernmental organization|INGO]], etc -->
| purpose             = [[HIV/AIDS]]
| membership          =
| key_people          = [[Larry Kramer]]
| affiliations        = [[ActUp/RI]]
| num_volunteers      =
| website             = {{URL|https://actupny.com}}
}}'''AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power''' ('''ACT UP''') is an international, [[grassroots]] political group working to end the [[AIDS pandemic]]. The group works to improve the lives of [[people with AIDS]] through [[direct action]], medical research, treatment and advocacy, and working to change legislation and public policies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.actupny.org/|title=ACT UP new york|work=actupny.org|access-date=19 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="crimp1">{{cite book |last=Crimp |first=Douglas |title=AIDS Demographics |publisher=Bay Press |year=1990}} (Comprehensive early history of ACT UP, discussion of the various signs and symbols used by ACT UP).</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia
 | last =Blotcher
 | first =Jay
 | editor-last=Gerstner
 | editor-first=David A.
 | title =ACT UP
 | encyclopedia = Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture
 | edition= 1st
 | pages =3–7
 | publisher =[[Routledge]]
 | language =English
 | date =2006
 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XS_SnVPixE8C
 | isbn = 9780415306515
 | accessdate = 2022-06-12}}</ref>

ACT UP was formed on March 12, 1987, at the [[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Services Center|Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center]] in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Zafir|first=Lindsay|title=Act Up|date=2019|encyclopedia=Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History|volume=1|pages=1–8|editor-last=Chiang|editor-first=Howard|place=Farmington Hills, MI|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|language=English|editor2-last=Arondekar|editor2-first=Anjali|editor3-last=Epprecht|editor3-first=Marc|editor4-last=Evans|editor4-first=Jennifer}}</ref> Co-founder [[Larry Kramer]] was asked to speak as part of a rotating speaker series, and his well-attended speech focused on action to fight AIDS. Kramer spoke out against the state of the [[Gay Men's Health Crisis]] (GMHC), which he perceived as politically impotent.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Leland|first=John|date=2017-05-19|title=Twilight of a Difficult Man: Larry Kramer and the Birth of AIDS Activism (Published 2017)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/nyregion/larry-kramer-and-the-birth-of-aids-activism.html|access-date=2021-01-16|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Kramer had co-founded the GMHC but had resigned from its board of directors in 1983. According to [[Douglas Crimp]], Kramer posed a question to the audience: "Do we want to start a new organization devoted to political action?" The answer was "a resounding yes." Approximately 300 people met two days later to form ACT UP.<ref name="crimp1"/>

At the [[Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights]], in October 1987, ACT UP New York made their debut on the national stage, as an active and visible presence in both the march, the main rally, and at the [[civil disobedience]] at the [[United States Supreme Court Building]] the following day.<ref name="crimp1"/><ref name=Stein>{{cite web |last=Stein |first=Marc |url=http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/march-on-washington/exhibit/by-marc-stein |title=Memories of the 1987 March on Washington |website=OutHistory.org |date=August 2013 |access-date=October 11, 2015}}</ref>  Inspired by this new approach to radical, direct action, other participants in these events returned home to multiple cities and formed local ACT UP chapters in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Rhode Island, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and other locations.<ref name="crimp1"/><ref name=Stein/><ref name=Northeastern/> ACT UP spread internationally. In many countries separate movements arose based on the American model. For example, the famous gay rights activist [[Rosa von Praunheim]] co-founded ACT UP in Germany.