March 7, 2008
PROUD TO DO NOTHING?
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Holley shows her Irish (and HASA for All) pride |
At the St. Pat's for All Parade last Sunday in Sunnyside, Queens, grand marshall Christine Quinn won cheers when she praised the LGBT-inclusive event (she's crusaded against its homophobic 5th Avenue cousin for years). But marchers from Housing Works, the New York City AIDS Housing Network and CitiWide Harm Reduction were on hand to remind the openly gay and openly Irish City Council Speaker that even as she marched for equality, she was leaving poor people with HIV behind.
Fifteen representatives of those AIDS groups used an invitation Housing Works received to participate in the parade to highlight Quinn's opposition to the HASA for All Act, which would extend rental assistance and other benefits to poor people living with HIV before they get sick. Currently, the city's HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) requires people with the virus to get gravely ill before they can access they benefits. The HASA for All marchers handed out pale green fliers bearing Quinn's image with the words "PROUD TO DO NOTHING?" over her eyes and mouth and on the flipside, her shocking quote that "if we housed people with HIV, then we would have to house homeless people with cancer and diabetes, too.""She turned our back to us and told us to kiss her behind," said Laverne Holley, an HIV-positive NYCAHN board member who marched in the parade. "I don't appreciate that. It's going to cost more in the long-run as people get sicker and require more care. It's penny-wise and pound foolish."
Though Quinn isn't convinced of the efficacy of HASA for All, which would help some 7,000 poor people New Yorkers living with HIV and is supported by solid research, the legislation was an easy sell for parade participants and spectators who applauded the HASA for All contingent. Many wondered incredulously why New York City isn't housing all sick people.
"Housing is incredibly important, especially for people with HIV/AIDS, but for everyone who needs housing," said Hugh Ryan, a member of the band and dance troupe Rude Mechanical Orchestra, who helped publicize the HASA for All Campaign by spontaneously strapping one of the green fliers to his suspenders. (See the group's dance below)
A number of other groups used the St. Pat's for All parade to criticize Quinn. The groups, not surprisingly clumped together toward the back of the parade and far from its grand marshal, included the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, the Radical Homosexual Agenda and the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC).
The backlash against Quinn, who is widely believed to be eyeing a 2009 mayoral run, was summed up by Tibby Brooks, who was marching with the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition(NYC): "Christine Quinn was a very nice lady until she tasted power," Brooks said.
For more information about the HASA for All campaign contact terri smith-caronia at smith-caronia@housingworks.org