Stop the Church Movement Collection

1989: ACT UP / WHAM! / The Cathedral Project, New York. Three distinct items: two small posters, 8 1/2 x 14 in and 11 x 18 in., and one broadside, 8 1/2 x 11 in. "We do not challenge..." printed in Spanish to verso and English on recto. All very good to near fine, with horizontal and vertical fold lines to "We do not challenge..." poster and small ink annotation on verso; and adhesive reside to "Catholics, Condoms and AIDS" poster, not obstructing image or text. Item #285

Collection including one handbill and two small posters related to the Stop the Church Movement and the mass demonstration at St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1989.

The Stop the Church Movement, organized by ACT UP and other queer organizers throughout 1988 and 1989, protested the homophobic and deadly politics of key Catholic Church members in New York who sought to force their views into public health policy, and particularly against Cardinal O’Connor, the Archbishop of New York, who actively campaigned against condoms, safe sex education, abortion, needle exchanges, and other essential components of women’s and LGBTQ+ healthcare.

In December 1989, the movement in a demonstration of over 4,500 people, including members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and Women's Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!),  outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. A small contingent of protestors entered the church, staging a "die-in," lying down in the aisles, and chaining themselves to the pews while more laid down on Fifth Avenue. When it appeared that the protest was having little effect on O'Connor, who continued on with Mass, one activist, Michael Petrelis, stood on a pew and shouted, "You bigot O'Connor, you're killing us!" One hundred and eleven of the demonstrators are arrested, 53 of them inside the cathedral; many were carried out on stretchers because of their refusal to stand up.

Gathered here are two rare posters from the December 1989 demonstration and a handbill from an earlier protest at St. Patrick's Cathedral in October 1989, organized by The Cathedral Project. One of the posters is bilingual, with English printed to recto and Spanish on verso.

Incredible and scarce documents of early AIDS activism, and primary source records of the life-or-death stakes of homophobic and anti-woman public health policies.

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