AIDS TREATMENT NEWS Issue #211, November 18,1994
John S. James

ATN: In view of the elections, what should those concerned about AIDS do now?

Sheridan: Organize, organize, organize. I mean three very specific things.

First, we must organize internally. We must make sure that our programs are well run; the people we represent are well served; that the work we do is very much in the public interest. Sometimes we forget, on the front lines, that we have to justify our work to the general public.

Second, grassroots organizing is a very effective way to combat Congressional complacency and to win over reluctant allies. Some politicians would like to put a "special interest" label on AIDS, and we can't let that happen. Some of them are not disposed to be our friends. But we have to approach these politicians and convince them, in whatever way necessary, that AIDS care, prevention, and research are important to this country, to their states and districts, and that AIDS should be a priority.

In the early AIDS movement, we did grassroots organizing very well. More recently, we have been less successful. If ACT UP was our early grassroots organization, we can point to it as a source of effective action. Now we are facing an entirely new strategy, and a whole new level of grassroots organizing. We need to mature and develop a certain political savvy -- to hold members of congress accountable -- and it is vital that we do it now. For too long, our movement has looked like a brownie pan -- wide, but not too deep. Grassroots organizing can provide that depth and assure accountability.

The third level of organizing is political -- we must communicate with those new members of Congress. We must find out who the new players are and which old players have new positions. We need to figure out how much money it will take to support our friends and challenge our enemies We need to have a very aggressive political agenda, but we have to develop that capacity. You can't watch people like Dan Hamburg lose his election for lack of money, and that's why he lost it; he didn't have the money he needed to beat a right-wing opponent.

AIDS advocates need to think about retooling our resource pool, and have real political resources available for friends, and some resources to fight our enemies.

We must avoid the politics of division; there are Republican friends who will need our support, and our work, to keep our agenda moving forward: people like Connie Morella, Steve Gunderson, Mark Hatfield, Arlen Specter, John Porter. These are people who have been supportive, who will be in important positions; we need to work with them. Look at Orrin Hatch on Ryan White; he was our original cosponsor, with Ted Kennedy, and remains the program's enthusiastic champion.

These will be difficult days, no doubt about it. Some of our biggest enemies are now in positions of great power; and we have very little structural barricades to fight against them. Jesse Helms has opportunity now that he's never had before. The Clinton Administration is going to be very hard-pressed to make sure that they keep a focus and a priority on AIDS, and not to let it go in the face of other things. The Administration is our safe harbor; we will need a lot of extremely tough work with them.

One of our biggest losses concerns our institutional base of staff support. Will key people be able to retain their jobs in the Senate and the House, and therefore retain our history in that institution? They are so important to everything we do, they have institutionally carried us through almost every fight we have had.

ATN: Aside from the consequences of the elections, what else must we watch out for?

Sheridan: We need to join ranks and avoid being caught up in competitive -- zero-sum gain -- discussions on AIDS priorities. I am troubled by potential off-sets in the ACTG (AIDS Clinical Trials Group) program to get better bench science. If we need better bench science we must advocate for it, not transfer it from other program areas. I believe we may face our first full-scale debates on AIDS funding vs. other funding areas. Our solidarity is our survival.

ATN: What is the bottom line for the AIDS community?

On those three levels of organizing we should get immediately to work. There is a certain discipline that is required. We cannot compete against each other, at a program level or at a community level or at a national level -- research at the expense of care, or care at the expense of prevention. First, those are completely ridiculous constructions; and second, we will get killed politically if we put ourselves into that position.

If there is any good news, sometimes a common crisis can pull people together. This community hasn't been together in some years.

941118
ATN21105

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1994. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .