FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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- click on linked name to email directly -
(ACT UP) Brandon Cuicchi (646) 284-2948
(RPC) Jason Rosenberg (631) 332-8990
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HUNDREDS OF LGBTQ+ TO BE VACCINATED AT QUEER LIBERATION MARCH
ACT UP SPONSORS RADICAL HEALTH FAIR FEATURING “JOINTS FOR JABS”
WHAT: ACT UP For Health
WHEN: Sun, June 27, 3 p.m.-9 p.m. ET
WHERE: Thompson St. below Washington Square Park
WHO: Treatment Action Group + ACT UP NY + Housing Works + More
EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/496634464978250
TRAINS: A, B, C, D, E, F, M to W 4th St.; R, W to 8th St.
**Please wear a mask at this event**
New York City, June 17, 2021 — Reclaim Pride Coalition, organizers of the 3rd annual “no cops, no corporations, no politicians” Queer Liberation March (QLM), will provide COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of attendees at this year’s March, doubling down on their commitment to the "Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe!" mantra so common at protest marches over the last year. In recognition of the barriers that many poor and working class New Yorkers experience in accessing COVID-19 testing and vaccines, March organizers and ACT UP NY (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) are working with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to provide vaccines at both the start and end points of this year's March.
"Historically, the LGBTQIA2S+ community, especially those of us who are transgender, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, particularly our siblings who are queer and trans people of color, are disproportionately impacted by severe health disparaties in our community, which overwhelmingly contributes to barriers faced in accessing affirming healthcare," said Christian Molieri of Reclaim Pride. "Specifically with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, we members and siblings of these beautiful intersectional communities have had to take on the burden of a, at times, Sisyphean battle in order to continue to maintain our overall health and wellness: despite providers cutting hours, despite clinics being shuttered in the middle of a raging pandemic. As is in our historical lineage, we refuse to remain silent and allow dominant culture to instruct us to wait on the sidelines. We queer, trans, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming individuals do not have that luxury."
When activists mention reduced medical services, they’re referring, in part, to four sexual health clinics that remain closed in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan after being converted into COVID-19 vaccine centers earlier this year. For weeks, AIDS activists from Reclaim Pride Coalition member group ACT UP have demanded that DOHMH provide replacement services outside the closed clinics five days a week in the form of trucks that can test for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as offer sexual and reproductive health counseling.
“Over the past year, because of COVID, many people were forced to cancel or delay their regular health screenings, so now there is a giant backlog of HIV tests,” said Brandon Cuicchi of ACT UP. “Instead of closing sexual health clinics and emphasizing COVID-19 vaccination at the expense of sexual health, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s strategy for vaccination must include fighting HIV and promoting sexual health.”
For June 27, LGBTQ+ and AIDS activists from ACT UP have coordinated multiple vaccine stations at Bryant Park for the start of the march and for a radical health fair dubbed “ACT UP For Health” at the end of the march along Thompson Street below Washington Square Park. “ACT UP For Health” will include more vaccine stations, HIV testing and counseling, PrEP, resources for LGBTQ+-affirming healthcare and mental health, “Joints For Jabs,” and more.
“ACT UP For Health” will host the third “Joints For Jabs” event in New York City after the huge success of their last two events, where over 1000 marijuana joints were distributed to people over 21 showing proof of vaccination. This is the first time vaccination will be offered alongside a “Joints For Jabs” event in New York City, and organizers hope that the chance for a free joint will encourage young people over 21, especially LGBTQ+ and those more marginalized, to show up and be vaccinated on site.
“Joints For Jabs 3” is the realization of the dream we had from the beginning to offer COVID vaccines alongside marijuana joints,” said Kellen Gold of ACT UP. “For people with HIV, marijuana has served as medicine since the early days of the AIDS epidemic, so it made perfect sense for ACT UP to host “Joints For Jabs” at the Queer Liberation March.”
To receive their complimentary joint, participants must show proof of vaccination, which can be administered on site, and be over the age of 21.
Founded in 1987, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis. ACT UP currently meets every Monday night virtually. Please check the ACT UP NY facebook page for details.
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Reclaim Pride Coalition (RPC) is a New York City-based group of LGBTQIA2S+ activists in alliance with dozens of grassroots community groups, nationally and internationally. RPC organizes the Queer Liberation March. In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, RPC mobilized more than 45,000 people to recreate the original 1970 Christopher Street Liberation Day March route uptown from Stonewall to Central Park. In 2020, under the darkness of the global pandemic, RPC held the Queer Liberation March For Black Lives and Against Police Brutality. The QLM is the annual people’s protest march without corporate funding; corporate floats; politicians’ grandstanding; or police control or involvement.
We are: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Two-Spirit, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming!
For Reclaim Pride Coalition’s complete statements of purpose:
&
RPC 2020 March - Demands & Safety Info
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Website: https://ReclaimPrideNYC.org
Facebook: @QueerMarch Instagram: @QueerMarch
Twitter: @QueerMarch TikTok: @QueerMarch
Donations: https://reclaimpridenyc.org/donate
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