All of us at METUP were saddened to learn of the passing of one of the most progressive activists, the founder of ACTUP, Larry Kramer. With dramatic and disruptive events, under the direction of Larry, ACTUP was able to force the federal government to take notice of the alarming number of deaths because of HIV/AIDS. These actions led to an increased research budget, additional aggressive research, and, ultimately, a significant decrease in the number of deaths from AIDS.
ACTUP has become one of the largest international grassroots political organization as other like-minded LGBTQ activists have continued to join.
It is because of Larry and the success that ACTUP has had for their community that our founders, Beth Caldwell and Jennie Grimes, were inspired to create METUP for the metastatic community. That inspiration keeps us going.
Our hearts go out to ACTUP NY, it’s members all over the globe, and Larry’s close friends and family. We know he is resting in power, and his legacy will continue.
Susan Rahn, President
In the last 40 years, the Metastatic Breast Cancer death toll has not changed significantly. Nor has the mean survival rate of 3 years. We have spent almost half a century trying to fund research for a cure, and what we got instead was pink ribbon campaigns. Our pink ribbon has been singed gray by the memory of those we have lost. It is our turn now. I’m not asking us to all lay down in protest. I am simply asking that we no longer just lay down in defeat. I ask that we no longer lose 108 Americans every day. I AM asking us to “METUP. “ - Jennie Grimes, Co-Founder, Metup.org, 2015