In Memory of Jesse Helms, and The Condom On His House

[JackBeck]

(I posted this in GD earlier today where it met an untimely death, so I thought I'd post it here for all our LGBT members and friends that may be unamware of the types of activism the community created in reaction to the pressing issues of that time. It's been almost 17 years since this action was executed, and part of me sometimes gets ambivilant to the aceptance we've gained in society, since it appears to have fostered a sense of complacency. )



Peter's POZ Blog
Founder & Advisory Editor, AIDSmeds.com

On September 5th, 1991, I put a giant condom over Jesse Helms’ house.

Why? Because, as the condom said, “Helms is deadlier than a virus.” Senator Jesse Helms was one of the chief architects of AIDS-related stigma in the U.S. He fought against any federal spending on HIV research, treatment or prevention. He once said, referring to homosexuals, “it's their deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct that is responsible for the disease.” Here’s another choice one: “There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy.”

By saying words like this on the floor of the Senate, Helms gave a veil of legitimacy to every parent who threw their HIV positive kid out of the house. ACT UP New York was filled with angry young men who experienced this kind of Helms-related hatred.

He proposed and passed laws that are still on the books, enshrining this stigma as official government policy. People with HIV couldn’t travel to the U.S. The CDC was not permitted to spend money on preventing the spread of HIV among gay men. Our country never launched a single well-funded HIV prevention campaign because of Jesse Helms. To this day, fifty thousand Americans become infected each year in no small part due to “Senator No”.

In the summer of 1991, it was bugging me that gay and AIDS activists had largely left him alone. Sure, there were thousands of angry words said and written excoriating the man for his hate-filled agenda, but no one got up-close-and-personal with a response. We needed to send a proverbial shot across his bow.

One of the best tools an activist can use is humor. If you can get folks laughing at your target’s expense, you diminish his power. I wanted the country to have a good laugh at Helms’ expense. I wanted his fellow senators to have a little chuckle behind his back. And I wanted Senator Helms to realize that his free ride was up – if he hit us again, we’d hit back.

Much more on the planning and execution of the event, as well as raw footage at Helm's house at:

http://blogs.poz.com/peter/archives/2008/07/in_memory_of_je.html

YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bngtgTwvKcE&eurl=http://blogs.poz.com/peter/archives/2008/07/in_memory_of_je.html

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. K and R

[JackBeck]

9. An acquaintance of mine

who is still kind of sort of affiliated with what's left of ACT-UP here in New York had no clue that Jesse Helms had died.

His response, which has mirrored the responses of others, was, "I thought he was already dead".

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. ....

:rofl: I'm sure there was a lot of that.

[JackBeck]

12. Helms was being mistaken for the other notorious racist:

Strom Thurmond.

:eyes:

:puke:

[panader0]

2. Great post. Rec'd

[JackBeck]

7. I had no recollection of this happening.

My coworker sent the link to me after our staff meeting this morning, where I spent the first 10 minutes moaning about how it appears no one is paying any attention to this story.

[Ian David]

3. The first cop car arrived just as the reservoir nipple was beginning to rise...

That's a phrase you don't hear every day!



The first cop car arrived just as the reservoir nipple was beginning to rise, a little over seven minutes after we had arrived. We had done it!

A crazy neighbor started yelling at us. One of the TV crews filmed her complaining to the police, saying “You guys don’t want to tangle with these people because you don’t want to get AIDS, I know.” I heard just yesterday that someone watching the video below recognized her. She’s supposedly Becky Norton Dunlop, and was the wife of Helms’ administrative assistant (see her Heritage Foundation bio).

<snip>

That night, local TV stations around the country played short funny clips of the action. Senator Helms complained about it on the floor of the Senate a week later, calling us “radical homosexuals.”

He never proposed or passed another life-threatening AIDS amendment.

http://blogs.poz.com/peter/archives/2008/07/in_memory_of_je.html

[JackBeck]

6. And they got a ticket

For parking their van in the opposite direction.

:rofl:

I was 18 when this incident took place; tucked quietly away in the suburbs of South Jersey, while struggling to come to terms with my personal identity. I can only imagine how much trouble I would have been in at this age if I had the courage and confidence to join my brothers and sisters in planning and implementing this brilliant protest.

[Maven]

4. Off to the Greatest

where it belongs.

Thanks Jack.

[JackBeck]

5. Thank you, my friend.

Another example of our activist history that should never be forgotten.

:loveya:

[WhiteTara]

8. ...

:rofl: thank you. I support that condom on his house :rofl:

[JackBeck]

10. Best. Protest. Ever.

This is my Number Two all-time favorite:







Followed closely by Number Three:

[Q3JR4]

13. I never knew about this.

My only other question is, what ever happened to all the "radical homosexual" groups that used to grace the country with their presence?

Q3JR4.