The other did not reject public actions but didn’t focus on them it was known as the Science Club, and had formed a kind of academy within ACT UP. One believed that the best way to advance the cause was to continue to protest-loudly. Behind what seemed like radical unity, however, the organization had already begun to split into two distinct camps. It was a triumphant moment for ACT UP, which had become known for its outrageous stunts. Fauci, the country’s chief AIDS scientist, had received a standing ovation after he essentially endorsed the protesters’ agenda, warning his colleagues that they “cannot and should not dismiss activists merely on the basis of the fact that they are not trained scientists.” Not every federal official came under attack that day. The group had been formed to force a negligent government to take AIDS seriously. Like many people who were in the audience that day-I was there as a Washington Post reporter-I remember everything about the speech except what Sullivan said. Shouts of “shame, shame, shame” were accompanied by whistles and air horns.

The protesters, from the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or ACT UP, were there to stop him. Sullivan had been attempting to deliver the closing address at the 6th International AIDS Conference. Sullivan, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with condoms. One day in June, 1990, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, I sat in the auditorium of San Francisco’s Moscone Center and watched as hundreds of activists pelted Louis W.

Let the record show by sarah schulman