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SOUTHERN 1 More... Places to Go, People to See, Things to Do. The New Southern Voice Calendar Pages8&9 \OCE Vol. 2, No. 5 Taking Pride in Our Culture April 27,1989 3,000 Protest New York's AIDS Policies New York-The AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP) swept through City Hall Plaza here last Tuesday with over 3,000 demonstrators and supporters to protest the city's AIDS policies under the administration of Mayor Ed Koch, according to reports in the Washington Blade. "We're here at City Hall today because we're dying and we're angry," said ACT UP's Ann Northrop. This demonstration was the largest ever staged by ACT UP, and was preceeded by a "zap" on the Brooklyn Bridge during rush hour. The AIDS civil disobedience group used the wave format to successfully close down the bridge and its exit/entrance ramps three times during the actions. CHER! (Concerned Homosexuals Examining Reality!) was the first group to successfully penetrate police barricades and block traffic from the bridge. New York Police arrested about 200 demonstrators, who had to be bused to several different precincts around the city for processing. Ron Goldberg, an ACT UP organizer, said the demonstration was highly successful. "We're taking the issue of health care to the streets. It will be a major issue in [this year's mayoral] election," he declared. ACT UP member Michael Nesline, who is also a registered nurse at Bellevue Hospital, said the metropolitan hospital system is in a state of crisis, largely due to New York Mayor Edward Koch's policies, which Nesline believes are criminally negligent. Charles Barber, another ACT UP member, said the Koch administration cut the city hospital budget by $20 million last year. Koch held a news conference at City Hall while the demonstration was going on. He said that he understands the frustration and anger that the demonstrators feel. Koch also said that New York does "more than any other city or state" to serve the needs of people with AIDS, but that the city's limited budget prohibits it from doing more. TIA NIKOLOPOULAS 41 Arrested Protesting S. C. AIDS Law Columbia, S.C. - ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) staged its first major demonstration in the Deep South on Thursday when forty-one demonstrators who blocked a major street in front of the South Carolina state capitol. building were arrested. Police officers quickly moved in after the demonstrators, in two separate groups, lay down on Gervais Street blocking the two east bound lanes. They were cuffed and carried on stretchers to waiting buses for transportation to a nearby processing center. The 41 were charged with blocking traffic - disobeying instructions of a police officer - and posted bonds of $100, the maximum fine for the misdemeanor offense. All of the demonstrators were released "within a couple of hours", according to Heather Wilson, ACT UP/Atlanta's logistics coordinator. Bob Hallman, one of two Columbia attorneys who represented the ACT UP group, said he observed only one police officer who "got a little rough" during the two rounds of arrest < . The demonstration was a scaled-down version of the one announced by ACT/UP Atlanta on March 1. At that time, activists stated they intended to "take control" of the South Carolina statehouse to protest the state's new AIDS law, considered to be one of the most oppressive in the nation. ACT UP/Atlanta backed off from that objective after South Carolina officials pointed out that any unauthorized entry or use of the statehouse carries with it a penalty of five years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine. ACT UP/Atlanta coordinated a two-hour demonstration at the statehouse before the arrests took place. South Carolina's AIDS law, passed by the general assembly last year, prohibits confidential or anonymous HIV testing, established quarantine provisions for certain HIV-positive persons, and extends prison sentences for positive-testing inmates. The law also requires state disclosure of HIV status for persons suspected of carrying or transmitting the virus. "Legislation such as this, which serves to foster fear and drive the disease underground, must not go unnoticed," said Chip Rowan, ACT UP/Atlanta's legal coordinator. "This action is being coordinated in protest and for the most oppressive AIDS law in the country." The street-blocking tactic apparently came as no surprise to South Carolina law enforcement authorities, who had several meetings with ACT UP coordinators during the last month. "We've watched videotapes of other ACT UP protests, and they sit down in the street completely passive," said Hugh Mann, press spokesperson for the state's law enforcement division. "You have to pick them up and carry them off." Most of the officers wore rubber gloves during the arrests. "We offer gloves to officers in every instance where we're going to have multiple arrests," said John Spade, a Columbia police department spokesperson. "This is standard procedure. You can catch a common cold with a handshake. You don't know what people have," he said. Although estimates of the total number of people who participated varied widely, Cont'd Page 3 TIA NIKOLOPOULAS