WHITE COLUMNS: TONIGHT!

TONIGHT: WHITE COLUMNS ACT-UP RETROSPECTIVE

LOCATION: 320 West 13th Street(Enter on Horatio Street, between Hudson and 8th Avenue)New York, NY 10014212 924 4212



YOU MIGHT NOT BELIEVE THIS, BUT LONG AGO THERE WAS A TIME WHEN GAY PEOPLE IN NYC ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT EACH OTHER. NOT JUST TO F#CK, ALTHOUGH I'M SURE PLENTY OF HOOK-UPS RESULTED FROM ACT-UP MEETINGS. THANKLESSLY ENJOYING THE BENEFITS REAPED BY THESE SPIRITED PIONEERS, MANY YOUNG GAYS DON'T SEEM TO CARE MUCH ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT LADY GAGA'S NEW OUTFIT, MUCH LESS FIGHTING TO ADVANCE THEIR RIGHTS, WHICH THEY OFTEN TAKE FOR GRANTED. THIS IS A GREAT WAY FOR YOU TO TO LEARN YOUR HISTORY AND SALUTE SOME HEROES FROM THE PAST. CHECK OUT THIS EXHIBIT, OPENING TONIGHT, WHICH OFFERS A GLIMPSE OF A VERY DIFFERENT PERIOD BETWEEN 1987-1993 WHEN ACTIVISM WAS IN.


ACTIVISM IS CONTAGIOUS, AND YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BE MOVED BY THE TALES OF ACT-UP MEMBERS:

-CHAINING THEMSELVES TO THE BALCONY OF THE STOCK MARKET, WHICH SUCCESSFULLY LOWERED THE ASTRONOMICAL COST OF AZT

-SHUT DOWN THE FDA WITH A PROTEST WHICH WAS CALLED THE LARGEST SINCE THE VIETNAM WAR

-CALLING OUT PHONY MEDICAL EXPERTS MISLEADING THE PUBLIC ABOUT AIDS

-ASSEMBLED 4,500 PROTESTERS OUTSIDE ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL TO SLAM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S STAND ON AIDS EDUCATION AND CONDOM DISTRIBUTION

-BROKE INTO THE CBS EVENING NEWS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM SHOUTING "AIDS IS NEWS. FIGHT AIDS, NOT WAR." (WHICH IS EVEN TRUER NOW, WHEN AIDS IN AFRICA HAS BECOME A TRENDY CAUSE FOR CELEBS BUT IS IGNORED HERE.)

NOW, ONLY A HANDFUL OF MEMBERS ATTEND MEETINGS IN NYC.

A SPEECH ON 9/20 BY THE INCREDIBLY FIERY LARRY KRAMER, ONE OF ACT-UPS FOUNDERS, WILL NO DOUBT BE A HIGHLIGHT, BUT THIS RETROSPECTIVE ALSO INCLUDES FILM, PHOTOGRAPHS AND A SERIES OF READINGS OF THE WORKS OF HIV+ AUTHORS.

MORE: WHITECOLUMNS


A GREAT ARTICLE ON THIS BY TIME OUT'S BETH GREENFIELD: TIMEOUTNEWYORK