#actup

World AIDS Day — December 1

Today we honor the lives lost, the survivors who continue to fight, and the generations of activists, caregivers, artists, and organizers who transformed grief into power. World AIDS Day is a reminder of the profound resilience of our community—and of the urgent work that remains.

We remember the friends, lovers, mentors, and chosen family members taken too soon. We celebrate the progress made through activism and science, from ACT UP’s bold demands to the ongoing fight for global access to treatment and prevention. And we acknowledge the inequities that persist, especially for queer people, trans communities, people of color, and those without access to care.

World AIDS Day is not only a day of remembrance—it is a promise. A promise to continue telling the stories. To support those living with HIV. To fight stigma wherever it appears. To push for a world in which healthcare is a right, and no one is left behind.

The pink triangle wasn’t always a symbol of pride. It began as a Nazi badge of shame—sewn onto the clothing of gay men in concentration camps to mark them for isolation and violence.

For decades, their suffering was erased—even after liberation, many were re-imprisoned under anti-gay laws. But in the 1970s, LGBTQ+ activists began reclaiming the triangle. What once marked people for death became a symbol of remembrance, protest, and resilience.

During the AIDS crisis, it returned again—this time as a symbol of defiance: SILENCE = DEATH.

The pink triangle reminds us: silence enables hate. But symbols can be reclaimed. Lives can be honored. And history must be remembered.

Never forget. Never again.

HIV/AIDS Activists stacked more than 200 coffins in front of the State Department Thursday April 17, 2025 to protest the devastation of global HIV-fighting programs by Donald Trump’s administration.

Due to PEPFAR funding cuts 20million people globally will lose access to HIV treatment (220,000 people per day including 7000 children/day). PEPFAR also supports >90% of global PrEP treatments. Some estimates put deaths due to the funding cuts will be at 100,000 or more from AIDS related causes in the first 3months following funding cancellation.

The image was made in Canva; check it out at the [referral] link here!

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

"To engage in activism that envisions alternatives ways of organizing society and alternative ways of being is to risk membership in society, a sense of belonging, however partial it may be. Activism can make us vulnerable because it is so obviously about wanting something beyond what is, and to have a political desire often is construed as wanting too much." - Deborah B. Gould, Moving Politics: Emotion and ACT UP's Fight against AIDS

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Interested in seeing where the quote came from? If so, click here! Wanna know more about HIV/AIDS and what's being done about it? If so, check out The Global Fund! For the curious, the purpose of this series of quotes can be found here! The quotes are also in the December Cause of the Month Quotes Ko-fi album! Like what you see and wanna know when there's more? Click here to Subscribe for updates and/or hit the Follow button! Enjoy what I do? Please consider supporting via the WGS Ko-fi!