ACT-UP needed to find ways to get what they wanted fast. More of their people were dying every single day so they couldn’t afford to extend their movement at all. That’s where they began to use ‘sacred space’ in order to get their message across. The ‘sacred space’ they protested at included City Hall, the White House lawn, the Catholic Church and even at a hospital. Each one of these places holds high importance thereby increasing the publicity they received for their protests. That publicity is exactly what they needed to speed up their demands.

In the protests, they blamed the people for causing the deaths of their loved ones and continuing to allow them to lose their lives. Specifically, in their protest by the White House lawn, they poured the ashes of their loved ones that died from AIDS right on the lawn. This act really sparked up awareness showing the whole entire country that they would not go down without a fight. By gaining the viewing of the entire country their movement become much greater. This showed how public actions like this can be so powerful and can really invoke change.

In the activism against religious violence they can learn from here how to effectively spread awareness of the issue. If they can expose more people to the issue then they can attack the incorrect stereotypes right on the nose. This is how Jews and Muslims will be able to increase their chances of putting a stop to Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

IF