ACT UP

ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, is a grassroots political organization founded in March 1987 in New York City after a rousing speech by writer Larry Kramer at the city's Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center. Facing government inaction during the height of the AIDS crisis, ACT UP used direct action, civil disobedience, and relentless public pressure to demand accountability, faster drug approvals, affordable treatment, and an end to the stigma around HIV and AIDS. Its die-in protests and the widely recognized Silence = Death emblem, with its pink triangle, reshaped public health advocacy and helped speed access to lifesaving medicines. Chapters continue to organize today.