ACT UP once again to Protest HRC..

On Sat Jan 31, join ACT UP to protest HRC (Human Rights Campaign) at their annual gala honoring Fortune 500 companies. While HRC dines with the 1%, a 35+ year HIV epidemic rages on in our LGBT community, still cutting many LGBT lives short.

Health officials warn about the recent sharp increase in HIV infections among young gay men and transgender women, especially among communities of color. We need our national LGBT orgs like HRC to shine a spotlight on HIV and AIDS until the epidemic is over for all populations, especially our most at-risk LGBT people.

HRC has created an LGBT equality index to score the Fortune 500 companies, but there’s no mention of HIV and the thousands of LGBT people with HIV in the workplace. We demand that HRC include several criteria to evaluate companies on their treatment of employees living with HIV, as well as their contributions to organizations and causes relate to reducing the incidence of HIV among LGBT Americans, particularly among the young. For over 30 years, too many have been fired, harassed, outed and discriminated against at work for having HIV.

Also at this gala, many of the corporations that HRC will honor actively work against the interests of middle-class and poor Americans, including people with HIV. ACT UP denounces this frequent practice of ‘”pinkwashing” whereby corporations with policies and practices that undermine the people’s well-being are given positive publicity in exchange for maintaining LGBT-friendly (or just equal) workplaces. This is short-sighted and divisive. We demand that HRC develop other criteria that takes into account the impact of companies’ policies on every American, not just LGBT Americans.

ALL ARE WELCOMED TO PARTICIPATE!

WHAT: ACT UP Protests HRC Gala
WHERE: Waldorf Astoria (301 Park Ave — Meet at 49th and Park)
WHEN: Sat Jan 31 from 5:00PM – 8PM
ATTIRE: Street Fabulous
BRING: Pots, Pans, Signs, Props, Noisemakers, and Signs
DIRECTIONS: Take the 6 to 51st St or the E,M to Lexington Ave and 53rd St

Why, well, over its extremely flawed (and in most cases bought) Corporate Equality Index and the fact that it gives high scores and honors to Fortune 500 companies that actively work against the interests of middle-class and poor Americans, and the thousands of LGBT people with HIV in the workplace.  

See at HRC everything is for sale, if you donate large enough