ACT UP/NY Alumni Reunion
On Saturday, June 22, 2013, twenty-six years after the founding of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), former and current members of the AIDS activist group gathered to celebrate our achievements, recall our history, reach out to our wounded AIDS warriors, remember those we’ve lost, and envision our futures.
The “ACT UP/NY Alumni (Just Don’t Call It A Reunion) Reunion” reunited ACT UP members who were on the front lines in the fight against AIDS, and who saved countless lives. The event took place at 49 Grove, a club in Greenwich Village. Aldo Hernandez took to the DJ booth to spin as we danced, talked, laughed, and cried.
While there was no formal program, the reunion afforded us the opportunity to discuss future work on AIDS-related issues affecting AIDS survivors, both HIV positive and HIV negative.
But the overarching desire to reunite was spurred by the death of ACT UP member Spencer Cox — who had written about critical issues facing AIDS survivors nearly a decade earlier.
The reunion was made possible by the generous financial support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The fiscal sponsor was the MIX Festival.
ACT UP/NY Alumni (Just Don’t Call It A Reunion) Reunion event organizers were: Alan Klein; Andrew Miller; Ann Northrop; Ken Kidd; and Duncan Osborne.
Attendees of the initial planning meeting for the event, which took place on April 30, 2013 at 7:30 PM at The Center, were: Alan Klein; Alexis Danzig; Andrew Miller; Ann Northrop; Charlie Franchino; Duncan Osborne; Eric Sawyer; Jim Eigo; Ron Goldberg; Scott Wald; and, Tom Keane. Participating via Facebook were: Avram Finkelstein; Bro Broberg; Chip Duckett; David Barr; Deb Levine; Jay Blotcher; John Voelcker; Liz Tracey; Michelangelo Signorile; Peter Staley; Robert Vazquez-Pacheco; Sam Avrett; Sean Strub; and, Tracey Litt. These ACT UP members became the Event Planning Committee.
A range of issues were discussed at the meeting, including the trauma and grief many of us have felt over the years — particularly those feelings triggered by the passing of comrades and friends. We also addressed the grief many of us feel about missing the camaraderie, engagement and friendships forged in ACT UP. While Spencer Cox's death brought many of these issues to the fore, it also brought us together and seemed, for many of us, to relieve a sense of isolation and to renew a strengthened sense of community.
The opportunity to gather together again reaffirmed the strong and unique bonds we share. And while it's clear that there a some complicated issues that still affect many of us, and that we are certainly open to discussions about the ways in which we may help one another to deal with these issues, the group was in agreement that the ACT UP/NY Alumni events be — first and foremost — social events.
Supporters
The ACT UP/NY Alumni (Just Don’t Call It A Reunion) Reunion could not have taken place without the generous support of the following organizations and individuals:
Tom Viola, Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS
David Dunn Bauer
Thomas Blewitt
Herb Cohen
David Corkery
Chip Duckett
Eric Epstein
Vincent Gagliostro
Jeff Griglak
Barbara Hughes
Frank Jump, Fading Ad Gallery
Stephen Kent Jusick, MIX NYC
Tom Keane
Steven Keith
Paul Leone
Deb Levine
Loring McAlpin
Terrence McNally & Tom Kirdahy
George McNeely
Fernando Mariscal
Aram Sabet, 49 Grove
Ira Sachs & Boris Torres
Marvin Shulman
Michelangelo Signorile
Michael Spiegel
Peter Staley
Liz Tracey
Robert Vazquez-Pacheco
Artwork by Vincent Gagliostro
Yoon Sen Nam Gallery
My Father, Larry Kramer and Rollerena
Jon Nally’s Social + Diarist Gallery
Media Coverage
• Gay City News: “AIDS Vets REACT UP, Warn the Battle Not Over,” by Gerard Flynn
• Towleroad: “ACT UP NY Members Hold 25th 'Reunion' in West Village,” by Tim Murphy
• FriendGrief Blog: “ACT UP/NY’s Non-Reunion Reunion,” by Victoria Noe
• Edge: “ACT UP Reunites To Celebrate History,” by Winnie McCroy
• The Petrelis Files: “ACT UP/NYC Reunion Gathering on June 22” by Michael Petrelis
• Joe.My.God.: “June 22nd: ACT UP Reunion In NYC” by Joe Jervis
In Memoriam
We remember those members of ACT UP/NY who died of AIDS, and other causes.
1987:
Lari Shöx (Lawrence Hrynyk) (36).
1988:
Bill McCann (25).
Douglas Bird.
Frank O’Dowd.
Joe Teti.
Max Navarre (33).
Steven Webb (32).
1989:
Barry Gingell (34).
Brian Damage (Brian Allen).
Costa Pappas.
Frank Meore.
George Whitmore (43).
Griffin Gold (Paul Griffin) (33).
John Bohne.
Kevin Sutton (27).
Michael Hirsch (34).
Nathaniel Pier (37).
Steven Petrino.
Steve Zabel (40).
William Olander (38).
1990:
Clarke Taylor (46).
David Liebhart (39).
Keith Haring (31).
Kevin Smith (36).
Murray Levy.
Oliver Johnston (38).
Ortiz Alderson (38).
Ray Navarro (26).
Vito Russo (44).
1991:
Adrian Lee Kellard (32).
Alan Robinson.
Allen Barnett (36).
Anthony Ledesma.
Daniel J. H. Connor (33).
David Lopez (29).
David Stern (43).
Dennis Kane (37).
George Ashley (66).
Iris De La Cruz (37).
James Revson (38).
Jay Lipner (46).
Jeff Gates.
Jerry Jontz (36).
Lee Arsenault (44).
Mark Fotopoulos (36).
Phil Zwickler (36).
Rick Damiata (42).
Rodger Pettyjohn (38).
Tim Powers (33).
1992:
Alan Contini.
Charles Barber (35).
Charles Reynolds.
Cliff Kali Goodman.
David Serko (32).
David Wojnarowicz (37).
Don Ruddy (38).
Jake Corbin (John Avino) (29).
John Stumpf.
John Henry Wagenhauser (36).
Katrina Haslip (33).
Luis Salazar (27).
Mark Lowe Fisher (39).
Marty Robinson (49).
Rich Korotchen.
Scott Slutsky (37).
Tom Cunningham (32).
Vince Satmary.
1993:
Jim Lewis.
Bob Rafsky (47).
Carl Sigmon (66).
Carmen Royster (37).
Chris DeBlasio (34).
David E. Kirschenbaum (30).
Jon Greenberg (37).
Michael Callen (38).
Robert Garcia (31).
Tim Bailey (35).
1994:
Aldyn (John Baldwin) McKean (45).
Casper Schmidt.
1994 (cont’d):
Clint Wilding Smith (40).
David Feinberg (37).
David Roche.
Gary Clare (32).
Jay Funk (35).
Jim Serafini.
Joe Franco.
Lydia Awadallah.
Mark Carson (40).
Michael Morrissey.
Patrick Dean Smith.
Richard Hoffman.
Robert Massa (36).
Robert Rygor (40).
Steve Spier (35).
1995:
Andy Valentin (29).
Bradley Ball (34).
David Bolen (31).
John Cook (33).
Kiki Mason (36).
Larry Gutenberg. (46).
Lee Schy (35).
Rex Wassermann (55).
Robert Farber (47).
Steve Brown.
Todd Moore.
Tony Malliaris (35).
Yolanda Serrano (45).
1996:
Billy Heekin (36).
Brian Weil (41).
David Petersen (54).
George Catravas (48).
Howard Pope (35).
Hugh Steers (32).
Jason Worth (45).
Mark Simpson.
Michael Slocum (39).
Rand Snyder.
1997:
Tony Seibert (36).
Wayne Fischer (39).
1999:
Rod Sorge. (30).
Steve Michael.
William Wilson (51).
2000:
Stephen Gendin (44).
Steve Petoniak (46).
2001:
Robert S. Jones (47).
2003:
Evan Ruderman (44).
Sarah Pettit (36).
2004:
Keith Cylar (45).
Rick Mount (55).
2005:
Brenda Howard (58).
Tim R. Powers (41).
2006:
Juan Mendez (41).
2007:
Eric Schweitzer (63).
Jim Lyons (46).
John Gilbert (41).
2008:
Sydney Porkorny (42).
2009:
Robert Hilferty (49).
Rodger McFarlane (54).
2010:
Harry Weider (57).
2011:
Herb Spiers (65).
2012:
Richard Krulikowski (61).
Dates Unknown:
David Samuels.
Douglas Bird.
Jeff Wolfson.
Joy DiVincenzo.
Kathy DeLeon.
Ray Moore.
Willie Rodriguez.
The following members of ACT UP/NY died after the list was originally published:
2012:
Spencer Cox
2013:
Kayeton J. Kurowski
The following was submitted by Debra Levine:
The list was created by ACT UP / NY member Debra Levine. It was first published in May 2012, in the conclusion and appendix of her NYU doctoral dissertation Demonstrating ACT UP: The Ethics, Politics, and Performances of Affinity. My inspiration for its creation was the ACT UP tradition of naming names — I remember that at our meetings, we always did our best to publicly name all who had participated in our actions. I wanted to continue that tradition. I began this list by using the names of ACT UP members I knew who had died, and names I collected during my years of research. Ron Goldberg was especially generous and provided me with the extensive personal list he had carefully compiled.
Before finishing my dissertation, I posted a query to gather more names on the ACT UP / NY Alumni Facebook thread in January of 2012. Throughout that winter and spring, many of you, the former and current members of ACT UP, participated in that discussion. The thread ran to over 700 posts, and it contained amazing testimonies to those who had died. This list is the result of all those efforts. I assembled it with additional research assistance by Garance Franke-Ruta and Andrew Miller. I will update it for the book on ACT UP I am writing, but as it stands now, only the names submitted to me before May 2012 are included here. Many of you have submitted names afterward, and there have been several deaths of ACT UP Alumni members since this list has been published. I have kept those names, and I intend to document those deaths and add them to this list.. Please submit the names of other ACT UP New York members you would like included on this list to the ACT UP NY Alumni website, and to me, debra.levine@nyu.edu.
