A candlelight march in the Castro, 1980; photo by Crawford Barton, Crawford Barton Collection (1993-11), GLBT Historical Society.
Direct action, marching and taking to the streets have long been tactics used by the LGBTQ community to promote equality, and these methods were critical for drawing attention to the AIDS crisis and effecting change in public policy. But the epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic mandates social separation, not physical gathering. An intergenerational panel of community historians, veteran organizers and younger activists will discuss the history of direct action, marches and parades for advancing social justice in the fight against AIDS and discuss how these strategies are being adapted and deployed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Our “Fighting Back” series is an intergenerational discussion that brings together community leaders, experts, historians and activists to explore lessons from the past that might be useful in formulating “resistance” efforts today.
SPEAKERS
Anne-christine d’Adesky is a writer, journalist, parent and longtime white activist who believes all Americans should be protesting Trump and supporting Black- and Brown-led antiracism protest. She has been participating in Black Lives Matter protests in New Orleans, a new second home. She recently launched the online Facebook global group, ACT UP—Fight Covid 19! which has 3,700 members and works to foster informed exchanges and proactive strategies for action around the pandemic; many members are longtime veteran ACT UP members. Before that, she founded the online Bay Area Queer Anti-Fascist Network. In the 1990s she cofounded the Lesbian Avengers and was an early member of ACT UP in New York. She is the author of four books.
Terry Beswick (moderator) has served as executive director of the GLBT Historical Society since 2016. At the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in San Francisco, he was a founding member of the local ACT UP and was the first national coordinator of ACT NOW, the national AIDS activist network. He advocated for HIV/AIDS research and treatment with Project Inform, the Human Rights Campaign and the White House Office of HIV/AIDS Policy. After the advent of effective treatments for HIV, Beswick worked as a journalist for the Bay Area Reporter and other LGBTQ community publications. More recently, he spearheaded a successful campaign to save and renovate the Castro Country Club for the queer recovery community and co-founded the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District. He holds an MFA in playwriting from San Francisco State University. Beswick has been named a Community Grand Marshal for the 50th Anniversary San Francisco LGBTQ Pride Parade and Celebration in 2020.
Emily Hobson is a longtime activist and a historian of queer radicalism and its intersections with antiracism, anti-imperialism and prison abolition. She is the author of the Bay Area history Lavender and Red: Liberation and Solidarity in the Gay and Lesbian Left and co-editor of the forthcoming movement anthology Remaking Radicalism: A Grassroots Documentary History of the United States, 1973–2001. Her current research addresses the history of HIV/AIDS activism in prisons and by incarcerated people. She is a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno and active in organizing for racial justice and against white nationalism.
Alex U. Inn (they/them) is an advocate for justice and equality, fighting for their rights and
the rights of others, and speaking truth to power. Alex was the 2017 San Francisco Pride Parade Grand Marshal and is one the founders of the San Francisco LGBTQ Center, MyNameIs Coalition and Committee for Queer Justice. They believe community events are important and founded SF Pride’s NECTAR/Women’s Stage; the UNLEASH! Dance Party for Women; the Momma's Boyz, a live-vocals hip hop drag king troupe; and KINGDOM! Philanthropic Drag King House. Alex has won multiple community awards for their activism and named to sainthood by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Crystal Mason (they/them) is an activist, artist, mediator and managing director of Queer Rebels Productions who is working hard to lift up the voices of queer trans people of color and centering our dreams, hopes and desires.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
This event will take place online. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and instructions on how to join the Zoom webinar as an attendee. The event will also be livestreamed, and then archived, on our YouTube page at https://bit.ly/2UyGVbG.
ADMISSION
Free | Suggested donation of $5.00
Register online here: https://bit.ly/2Zr7HFK
The event is limited to 500 attendees.
ASL INTERPRETATION
ASL interpretation provided upon request. Please write at least three days in advance of event to leigh@glbthistory.org.
JOIN THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Become a member of the GLBT Historical Society for free museum and program admission, discounts in the museum shop and other perks: www.glbthistory.org/memberships