Some history: ACT UP Latino

Someone I know died this morning. At times he was a co-worker and a fellow Latino LGBT and HIV/AIDS awareness activist. For a while, he was also gone, finding work in the communication field which drew him away from the non-profit sector and New York City. And then, he returned, and - though we were never close - at least it gave us a chance to reconnect.

Today, as I sought to inform people in the community about his passing, I was trying to find ways to convey just how important Juan Mendez had been to the community and, doing some online research, I found the following link which begins to tell the story. By no means a comprehensive look at history, but an indication of why Juan should be mourned by the LGBT community as a whole in the United States:

ACT UP Oral History

Read the interview with Moises Agosto for actions involving Juan Mendez in the early 1990's when both were part of the Latino Caucus of ACT UP. Read the interview with Robert Vazquez Pacheco for further commentary on the involvement of LGBT Latinos in ACT UP.