#rwrw

David Wojnarowicz is the man in the photo shown above, and referenced by Alex in the book. He was an AIDS activist, artist, writer, and filmmaker - among other things. He drew on his personal experiences with AIDS for his art & his political activism. In 1988, Wojnarowicz wore the leather jacket pictured above, with a pink triangle underneath text reading "if i die of aids - forget burial - just drop my body on the steps of the f.d.a." This jacket, and his similar sentiment from his book Close to the Knives, inspired David Robinson who - in 1991 - dumped the ashes of his deceased partner on the grounds of the White House in protest. These protests came to be known as "Ashes Action". Wojnarowicz died in his Manhattan home on July 22, 1992, aged 37, from what his boyfriend, Tom Rauffenbart, confirmed was AIDS. His ashes were scattered on the White House lawn in 1996.

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The AIDS epidemic in the US dates back to around 1970, but it wasn't until 1981 that cases started to come to light. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) published a report about 5 gay men becoming infected with a type of pneumonia only seen in people with compromised immune systems. As these men were healthy, this was unexpected. A year after, the New York Times published an article about a new immune system disorder, affecting over 300 people and killing over 100. Officials coined it GRID, gay-related immune deficiency, as it appeared to only be affecting gay men. It became officially known as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) by August 1982, but was referred to as "gay plague" and many other derogatory terms for many years. Ninety-five and a half per cent of those diagnosed with AIDS between 1981 and 1987 died.

At the time, Ronald Reagan was president. He has been widely criticised for his reaction to the epidemic, for good reason. He didn't mention the word "AIDS" in public until 1985, by which time there had been 5636 deaths due to AIDS in the US. His first speech about the disease was delivered to the College of Physicians in Philadelphia in 1987, by which point there were more than 36,000 Americans living with AIDS & more than 20,000 had died. In the documentary When AIDS Was Funny (linked at the bottom), audios from press conferences in the early 1980s show how little the Reagan administration cared. Not only do they refer to AIDS as "gay plague", but joke around about it. It shows just how much the epidemic was derided - the people in charge of the country were so flippant about something so devastating, reflecting the general opinion of AIDS. Reagan's public support came overwhelmingly from the 'religious right', with Rev. Jerry Falwell using his political action group (the Moral Majority) to encourage homophobia aimed at gay men, especially those diagnosed with AIDS. Pat Buchanan, the White House Communications Director from 1985 to 1987, described the crisis as nature “exacting an awful retribution against gay men” in 1983.

Larry Kramer, when recalling the attempts to get help from public officials said:

You learn very fast that you’re a faggot, and it doesn’t make any difference that you went to Yale and were assistant to presidents of a couple of film companies, and that you had money. [source]

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On the 13th August, 1998, the Bay Area Reporter paper published a headline "No obits". For the first time in 17 years, there was finally a week without any deaths due to AIDS in the area covered by the paper - they are clear that there were deaths elsewhere, and they may have belated obituaries the following week, but for now this was a positive change. They had previously had up to 30 obituaries at points. Derek Gordon was quoted in the article as saying:

"I remember my grandfather said he knew he was getting near death because he used to scan the obits," he told the B.A.R. "I used to think how tragic because I was doing the same thing at 30."

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Wojnarowicz's jacket features a pink triangle on it. This was being used as a signal, as the pink triangle had been reclaimed by gay activists - originally in early 1970s Germany - to be used as a memorial to past victims & to protest continuing discrimination following its use by the Nazi Party to identify queer men in concentration camps. ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) adopted this icon, and turned it the other way up (so the point was at the top) and continue to use it to this day.

ACT-UP was formed in 1987, in New York City, and is now an international political group. It is working to end the AIDS pandemic using direct action, medical research & treatment, and trying to influence legislation. They debuted in October 1987, at the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, not only by participating in the march but also with civil disobedience the day after. In the following October, ACT-UP shut down the F.D.A. (Food & Drug Administration) for a day in a demonstration against their drug approval process. The image of Wojnarowicz was taken that day, by William Dobbs. Activists shut down the F.D.A. by blocking the doors & walkways that would allow staff to get into the building. Some lay on the floor with faux-headstones, reading “DEAD FROM LACK OF DRUGS” and “VICTIM OF F.D.A. RED TAPE”. They attached a banner to the front of the building with ACT-UP's slogan - SILENCE = DEATH, bracketed by two pink triangles.

ACT-UP utilised different tactics from other groups - not only did they carry out (entirely non-violent) civil disobedience actions, but they also had the knowledge to be able to argue their demands successfully. The demonstration at the F.D.A. and their precise demands led to the F.D.A. listening to them and including them in decision making - and a year later their demands had started to come to fruition, with easier access to experimental drugs for those living with AIDS.

One 'Action' ACT-UP coordinated, was coined 'Ashes Action', as mentioned above. In 1992, ACT-UP marched to the White House fence to scatter the ashes of loved ones who had died due to AIDS onto the lawn of the White House. Inspired by Wojnarowicz's memoir, ashes were poured over the fence, demonstrating to the government explicitly the physical result of the AIDS policies. 'They had drums play a funeral cadence. They chanted—Bringing our dead to your door / We won't take it anymore and Out of the quilt and into the streets / Join us, join us. Unlike other protests, the Ashes Actions were not only meant to shock an uninterested public into empathy—they were meant as releases of grief for the activists themselves. "There was lots of room to scream and yell," Butler said, "but it wasn't always conducive to the work of mourning. I knew none of the people whose ashes we were carrying, but I remember when the ashes went over the fence of the White House. I just don't remember convulsive grief like the grief I felt in that moment."' [source]

sixteen, ashes of your forerunners rest on the lawn of the White House because SIXTEEN, THEY HAVE ALWAYS WATCHED US DIE. -SpondeeSoliloquy - Seventeen things (alternate link)

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I had to cut down a lot of the information here, so I would really appreciate it if you took the time to have a look through the additional reading below, there was a lot of things I would have added if I had the space.

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Sources: Wikipedia - David Wojnarowicz Guardian - David Wojnarowicz: still fighting prejudice 24 years after his death NY Times AIDS Timeline 1980-1987 History.com (archived) - History of AIDS Wikipedia - History of HIV/AIDS vox.com - The Reagan administration's unbelievable response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic US Studies Online The AIDS Crisis and the US Presidency SFGate - Reagan's AIDS Legacy / Silence equals death Washington Post - Pat Buchanan's Greatest Hits Wikipedia - Moral Majority Bay Area Reporter (archived) - No Obits Wikipedia - Pink Triangle Wikipedia - ACT UP New Yorker - How ACT UP Changed America Vice - Why the Ashes of People With AIDS on the White House Lawn Matter Pioneer Works - The Jacket

Additional Reading: When AIDS Was Funny - Documentary Film (cw for images of very unwell aids patients) LA Times - Police Arrest AIDS Protesters Blocking Access to FDA Offices Youtube - ACT UP Ashes Action 1992 Washington Post - AIDS ACTIVISTS THROW ASHES AT WHITE HOUSE Wikipedia - How to Survive a Plague Wikipedia - The Normal Heart (originally a play), 2014 film BBC - The drama that raged against Reagan’s America Wikipedia - Silence=Death Project Brooklyn Museum - Silence = Death Wikipedia - And The Band Played On - Randy Shilts NPR - How To Demand A Medical Breakthrough: Lessons From The AIDS Fight ACT-UP oral histories ClassicFM - Sobering black-and-white image of a gay men’s choir reminds of loss of life during AIDS epidemic Snopes - Does a Poignant Photo of Gay Men's Choir Show Devastating Impact of HIV/AIDS? Why We Fight - Vito Russo