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MUST SEE! Queer Activist History with Gary Kinsman: July 30 6 PM

Posted by Wayves volunteer 21/07/2013
FREE SHOWING OF UNITED IN ANGER --A HISTORY OF THE AIDS COALITION TO UNLEASH POWER (ACT UP) IN NEW YORK CITY
6pm, Tuesday, July 30th
Halifax North Memorial Public Library
2285 Gottingen St.
UNITED IN ANGER: A HISTORY OF ACT UP is a unique feature-length documentary that combines startling archival footage that puts the audience on the ground with the activists and the remarkably insightful interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project to explore ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from a grassroots perspective – how a small group of men and women of all races and classes, came together to change the world and save each other’s lives.

The film takes the viewer through the planning and execution of a half dozen exhilarating major actions including Seize Control of the FDA, Stop the Church, and Day of Desperation, with a timeline of many of the other zaps and actions that forced the U.S. government and mainstream media to deal with the AIDS crisis. UNITED IN ANGER reveals the group’s complex culture – meetings, affinity groups, and approaches to civil disobedience mingle with profound grief, sexiness, and the incredible energy of ACT UP.

This will be followed by a brief discussion on recovering AIDS Activist history here in Halifax facilitated by Alexis Shotwell and Gary Kinsman of the new AIDS Activist History Project which is collecting and documenting AIDS Activist history in a number of places across Canada.

Gary Kinsman is one of Canada's leading queer historians. A writer for the Body Politic and Rites Magazine, he is the author of The Regulation of Desire, one the key texts in Canadian LGBTQ history, and most recently, The Canadian War on Queers.