Date | 1990 |
---|---|
Dimensions | Paper: 13 1/2 x 11 1/8 in. (34.3 x 28.3 cm) Overall: 13 1/2 x 11 1/8 in. (34.3 x 28.3 cm) |
Print medium | Print-Lithograph |
This is one of the many ACT UP posters that targeted politicians whose response to the AIDS epidemic was inadequate during the early years of its spread. The criticism levied against President Bush in the poster's text was widespread and was not limited to AIDS activists only. In a speech given just prior to President Bush's first public address about the disease on March 29, 1990, the chairman of Levi Strauss & Company stated that if there was no direction from the White House, all of the efforts of the private sector would have little effect. These criticisms continued even after Bush's speech: nearly a month later, the National Commission on AIDS stated that the government was failing in coordinating an AIDS response. The commission recommended that the Bush administration give emergency relief to cities hardest hit by the virus, pass a law making AIDS discrimination by employers illegal, remove restrictions hindering the creation of straightforward educational material, and provide funds for housing people affected by the disease. Out of these measures, the administration only supported making discrimination illegal.
Purchase, with funds provided by the ICP Acquisitions Committee, 2000