Silence = Death

When a government decides whose deaths are acceptable collateral damage, they’re telling us precisely who they believe is human.

The New York Times’s May 4 article on NIH funding cuts, “Trump Administration Slashes Research Into L.G.B.T.Q. Health,” has overwhelmed me with rage and grief. As someone who held dying friends’ hands during the worst of the AIDS crisis and volunteered with AIDS Action in Boston during the 90s, I refuse to be silent. I refuse to watch another generation suffer because political leaders have decided LGBTQIA2S+ lives are expendable.

“The H.I.V. epidemic is going to explode again as a result of these actions,” warns Dr. Spinelli. “It’s devastating for the communities affected.”

What we’re witnessing now isn’t a budget decision; it’s the resurrection of the same political violence that decimated the queer community during the height of the epidemic.

I spent decades teaching my queer studies students about the deadly silence of the Reagan years, when my community died while the government looked away.

For those who weren’t there in the 80s and 90s: When they abandoned us before, we created ACT UP, whose members risked arrest, public scorn, and violence to force the US government to acknowledge our humanity. The iconic “Silence = Death” pink triangle, reclaimed from its horrific use in Nazi concentration camps, became our community’s battle cry when officials wouldn’t even say “AIDS” publicly while thousands died weekly.

The courage of these activists—many of whom were fighting while dying themselves—changed the course of medical research, drug approval processes, and public health policy forever. Their direct actions at NIH, FDA, and on Wall Street are the reason many in the community survived.

➡️Siblings, it’s time to channel that same fierce spirit. Watch David France’s amazing documentary “How to Survive a Plague” to learn more. What AIDS activists accomplished then through collective action is exactly how we need to fight back now.

➡️CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY. Tell them HIV/AIDS research and LGBTQIA2S+ health funding must be restored immediately. Support organizations that serve under-resourced communities like the San Francisco AIDS Institute and the Black AIDS Institute.

ID: Silence = Death button on denim background. Support ACTUP New York https://give.actupny.com/

#RestoreNIHFunding #LGBTQHealth #AIDSResearch #NotGoingBack