ACT UP 'Stop The Church' Demonstration 12.10.89

The AIDS crisis in the 1980's was COMPLETELY out of control. People were dying all over the place in NYC, and the authorities (NYC government, Federal government, civil organizations) were very slow to respond. It felt like a plague had hit us, and nobody in power seemed to care. Most felt at the time this was because the primary people that were dying from the disease were gay men and IV drug users, both considered marginal and outsider populations by the mainstream.

ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was formed to combat government and media indifference to the crisis. They did an AMAZING job of bringing this issue to the fore.

One of their most high profile cases, STOP THE CHURCH, was held outside St. Patrick's Cathedral on 12/10/89. Excerpted from ACT UP's Wikipedia page:

"ACT UP disagreed with Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor on the Roman Catholic Archdiocese's public stand against safe sex education in New York City Public Schools, condom distribution, the Cardinal's public views on homosexuality, as well as Catholic opposition to abortion. This led to the first Stop the Church protest on December 10, 1989 at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. In December 1989, approximately 4,500 protesters mobilized by ACT-UP and WHAM! gathered outside a mass at the cathedral. A few dozen activists entered the cathedral, interrupted Mass, chanted slogans, or lay down in the aisles.One protester broke a communion wafer and threw it to the floor. One-hundred and eleven protesters were arrested. Only minor charges were filed, punished primarily by community service sentences; some protesters who refused the sentences were tried, but did not serve jail time"

The Anarchist youth group I was a part of (NYDAC) came out in big numbers to support this protest. Most of us were NYC high school kids, and so the issue of condoms in schools and sex education directly affected us. We didn't believe the Catholic Church should have the power to influence the policy of secular institutions like NYC public schools.

Furthermore, we thought the Church's continued stance against condoms and homosexuality seemed insane when people were dying in the streets. The Church's response was to build more AIDS hospices! They were willing to help you die, but they weren't trying to help people NOT get AIDS in the first place.

The abortion issue was also front and center in the USA. There was a constant fear that Roe v. Wade was going to be overturned by the Supreme Court, and that abortion would once again be illegal, costing more women's lives in unsanitary, back-alley abortions.

Finally, I took PERSONAL relish in these protests as I had grown up a dedicated Catholic, but by 16 years old I was disgusted by the hypocrisy I had seen in the Chruch I was brought up in. These people were not "following on the path of Jesus", which is suppose to be the goal of all Catholics. They were not humble and anti-materialistic. They seemed to have missed all the memos about love and compassion for your fellow human beings. Catholicism had become defined by its' intolerance and backward-thinking. I was quite proud to speak out against it all. 

Apparently there is a documentary on this protest by the director Robert Hilferty called "Stop The Church". I haven't seen it yet, but a friend told me it was quite good.