munity Service Awards

Group of the Year

The time is now to ACT UP

The air of infamy and notoriety hang heavily over ACT UP, a fact that local members know well. Dispelling notions of arrest and guerilla tactics is usually the first part of introducing new members to the scene. Kenn knows. "When I first came on I was overwhelmed by the amount of information," he says, backed up by the nodding heads of agreement gathered in ACT UP's "clubhouse." "Me too," says Jan. "There was too much info, it was too technical and I was blown away." "And you should've heard Kenny say, 'I'll do anything but I won't get arrested," adds Marcos, getting a snicker from the group.

But getting arrested isn't the whole story to ACT UP Cleveland. Formed only a year ago, the group has succeeded at growing and thriving, during a time when other national chapters have dissolved and disbanded. Marcos Rivero, a New York transplant with experience in the ACT UP group there, was the key spark that breathed life into the group. "I had seen Joe (Carroccio)

Man of the Year

at Detours one night, selling T-shirts for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation For AIDS) and we talked. So I started an ad in the paper saying I was starting an ACT UP group here. I drew in Joe with the ad. We started in my living room." The rapport between Joe and Marcos is a big part of ACT UP's success. "He knows what I'm thinking and I know what he's thinking. He's the talker, I'm the instigator. He's explosive, I'm diplomatic. We click."

Like any non-profit group, ACT UP knows the work involved just getting started. Pulling in members was tough, getting anyone to listen was tough, finding money was tough. Marcos says that sometimes gay people are less supportive than straights because "you're threatening their closets. We even get gays asking us 'when are the good-looking people going to join ACT UP?""

But one year and many demonstrations later, things look a bit different. The clubhouse works better than a living room.

More than straight talk

For listeners grown tired of talk radio's conservative wind and over-sized egos,

surrounding gays and AIDS. His first appearance on Channel 5's Morning ExMorning

change seventeen years ago was just the start of a long media association that culminated in the Gay 90's. With his first year almost behind him, Harris says it hasn't been casy, though the fact that I've been on a ar says something. Like getting up and difficult. "In Decem

FEBRUARY 11, 1994

THE

OCC

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

13

ACT UP Cleveland hands out condoms at the prom

Generous benefactors have helped with supplies and office equipment. Local officials like Mayor Michael White and Council President Jay Westbrook have listened to ACT UP's demands. National AIDS Policy Coordinator Kristine Gebbie knows Cleveland well thanks to frequent faxes, phone calls and interviews with local members.

Demonstrations have ranged from handing out condoms to eager high school prom goers, to staging a full-scale protest with over 100 people in honor of this past World AIDS Day. That event got ACT UP major attention on national news programs. A recent protest was pure ACT UP: city employees awoke January 24 to find Carroccio, Rivero and fellow member Gordon Jones handcuffed to the doors of City Hall in

ACT UP

protest of the city's lack of AIDS spending. That night they appeared peacefully at the City Council meeting and met with a responsive Westbrook. "The city's AIDS spending is where we'll be focusing most of our energies," says Marcos. "That and pushing for the National AIDS Cure Act."

ACT UP is also a strong advocate for patient input and control in matters of treatment. "We believe in controlling the care you get, not just sitting back and letting your doctor tell you what to do," Marcos says. "When people find out they're positive, we're usually the first ones they call. If you don't like us, that's fine. But come and get the info we have. Help yourself. That's what we're about. Helping ourselves. No one else is and I haven't got a lot of time to waste."

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