QUEEROCRACY Fed Up Queers
Contact: Matthew Kavanagh, 202-486-2488, matthew@healthgap.org Chip Duckett: 917-865-4120
AIDS ACTIVISTS ARRESTED ON WALL STREET AT OPENING BELL Nine AIDS Arrested at Kickoff Action for ACT UP’s 25th Anniversary by blocking access to the Stock Exchange.
New York, NY – April 25, 2012: Nine AIDS Activists from QUEEROCRACY and Fed Up Queers affinity group of ACT UP 25th Anniversary chained themselves to the entrance to Wall Street’s Stock Exchange just moments before the opening bell.
AIDS Activists demand a Financial Speculation Tax (or in queer parlance, the FiST), a tiny tax on speculative financial transactions that would raise up to $350 billion in the United States annually to fund 15 million people on treatment by 2015 and lead to an eventual end to the AIDS pandemic. The activists had business suits, which allowed them to blend in downtown, but then donned bandit masks and Robin Hood hats. The international campaign for a Financial Speculation Tax has often been called the “Robin Hood Tax Campaign”. (Click HERE to read more and see video)
“The FiST (Financial Speculation Tax) is so small there’s no way it could hurt. In fact, the FiST would ultimately result in a lot of pleasure and positive things and virtually no pain at all—particularly for people living with AIDS and even for those being taxed. Wall Street can afford this extremely tiny tax on the ‘casino economy’ transactions that contributed to the recession and people with AIDS need that money to restore draconian budget cuts to put us on track to end the AIDS pandemic,” said Megan Mulholland a member of QUEEROCRACY.
AIDS activists highlighted the definitive study that came out this summer called HTPN 052, which proved that treatment is an effective form of HIV prevention. The Economist (June, 2011) featured the possibility that if a certain number of people were put on treatment, we could actually get out ahead of the epidemic within a generation. This direct action was the first salvo of a day of expected civil disobedience and legal mobilizations for ACT UP’s 25th Anniversary.
“ACT UP has been occupying Wall Street since 1987, recognizing that corporate greed and the political inaction that it buys fuels the epidemic. ACT UP is committed to the campaign for a Financial Speculation Tax that raises funds for AIDS, healthcare, the fight against climate change and jobs,” said Fed Up Queers (FUQ) member, Staci Smith.
Subscribe!
Get infrequent, announcements from ACT UP New York and occasional offers from our shop.
You have Successfully Subscribed!