“We deserve better and I believe we can achieve it. We have seen so much change in our lifetimes. Progress is not a sign to take your foot off the pedal, it is a sign to keep going because what we are doing is working. As long as we are working towards liberation I will be involved in the fight and stand in solidarity with all my comrades opposing oppression in all of its forms. If we aren’t trying to create a better world, what are we even doing?” Shiv, ACT UP April Pin Up
You are warmly invited to the LGBTQ+ Community Centre launch of the gorgeous, sexy, informative and inspiring ‘AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) PIN UP 2025 Calendar’ on Saturday 2nd November 2:30-5pm.
The calendar includes a timeline of vital, epic and world-changing moments in public health and HIV and AIDS activism. Designed by Matt Bonner, photographed by Holly Buckle and edited by author-activist Dan Glass (2) the ‘ACT UP Pin-Ups London Calendar 2025’ features 12 beautiful portraits of 25 titans from the incredible HIV/AIDS activist movement, along with over 300 calendar entries paying homage to AIDS herstory. It includes near daily mentions of medical, media, protest and social movement advances which have pushed forward our collective journey for access to healthcare for all. All profits from the sales of this calendar will go to Positive East, Positively UK, Albert Kennedy Trust. This stands in the legacy of creative and inspiring Queer art activism such as ACT UP Gran Fury Collective.
During the afternoon some of the legendary activists in the calendar - including Jonathan Blake, Katie Goldfinch, Ian Johns and Miqx Kannemeyer - will share how we can continue to ‘create healthcare utopias in the here and now’’ sharing stories and tips from their activism and imagineering what our future will look like when we have completed our mission of an end of to AIDS and provisions of healthcare for all.
"In my life in the 80s, 90s and after, I was honoured and also often distressed, to be a part of the last stages of life of friends, lovers, strangers and the public who came to the services offering care and support that I worked for. I’ve lost count. My mind often refuses to remember details of too many hundreds and more … I can only live on as part of that army of lovers. May my heart, head, hands, body and spirit be able to offer whatever contribution I can." Miqx Kannemeyer, ACT UP February Pin Up
Huge thanks to everyone involved! Calendar design by @mattbonner.uk https://www.revoltdesign.uk/ and photos by @stickypicnic at www.hollybuckle.com
Accessibility - LGBTQ+ Community Centre is wheelchair accessible - see here
Testimonials in Support.
“The ACT-UP pin up calendar not only shines a light on the huge role that activism has played over the years in advocating for and enabling access to rights and services to some of the most marginalised communities in the world. It also enriches and demonstrates the leadership of people living with HIV, in all our/their diversities, in the fight against HIV, in helping to reignite and keep conversations about HIV on the agenda, and ensuring that communities at risk of being left behind in the good news about HIV, are not left behind.” Professor Kevin Fenton CBE PhD PrFPH FRCP FFSRH(Hon), President | Faculty of Public Health
“We have so much to learn from ACT UP about big tent politics and coalition work. I hope these daily reminders can inspire new innovations and ways to build the relationships that are at the center of progressive change.” Sarah Schulman, author of ‘The Gentrification of the Mind’ and ‘Let the Records Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993′
“We are honoured to be included in the ACT UP Pin-Ups Calendar 2025, which celebrates the incredible work of activists who have fought tirelessly for the rights and health of people living with HIV and AIDS. Mildmay Hospital is proud to have played a role in this movement, and we hope that this calendar will inspire future generations to continue the fight for equality and access to healthcare for all.” Miklos Kiss, Mildmay Hospital
“As we look to the future, and work towards the goal of ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030, it is so important to remember and acknowledge the history of our movement and all of the people and key events that have brought us to where we are today. And the ACT UP Pin Up 2025 calendar will also provide inspiration and motivation for everyone who is involved in the ongoing fight against discrimination and for equal rights for everyone living with HIV.” Robbie Currie, CEO of National AIDS Trust
“Whenever the fight (either personal or political) get’s too much, I look at my ACT UP tattoos to remind me that action is the antidote to despair. And when I feel tired and like I’m not contributing enough, or when I feel like I’ve said the wrong thing, I remind myself of the mantra at the core of ACT UP – end AIDS by any means necessary. All contributions to the fight no matter how big or small, how mainstream or subversive are valid.” Nathaniel Hall, Theatre Maker, Actor and HIV activist (First Time, It’s A Sin)