Gay HIV campaigners dump horse sh*t and kiss outside UKIP HQ for World AIDS Day
An HIV campaign group has made a statement about what it calls “bullsh*t” statements by UKIP on the subject… by dumping a pile of manure outside the party’s London office.
ACT UP: London, staged a protest outside UKIP’s Croydon North and Lambeth office and dumped the manure in protest against statements made by various figures in UKIP about people living with HIV.
The pile of manure at their offices in South London was decorated with an AIDS ribbon and the label ‘What goes around comes around. Solidarity on World AIDS Day. #UkipStinks’
ACT UP activist Gary Hunter said: “We’ve had enough of UKIP’s misinformation and offensive attacks on minorities. We wanted to show Farage that people living with HIV aren’t going to take his B.S. any longer – so we’ve returned it. The vile crap that UKIP keeps spreading stigmatises and ostracises people living with HIV, gay people and immigrants. We thought this steaming pile of muck was a great representation of what we, as HIV-positive people, think of UKIP’s agenda.”
Activist Dan Glass added: “Farage has suggested the UK should do what the USA and ‘virtually every other country in the world’ do and ban people with HIV from living here, because ‘We can’t afford to have people with life-threatening diseases’ – but those are all lies. Only about 12% of countries deport people with HIV, the USA repealed its ban in 2010, and the UK has never seriously considered one! We should be proud of that.”
“We’re marking World AIDS Day by saying we’ve had enough. UKIP think they can spout filth without any consequences to them, but their lies directly impact millions by promoting stigma. This past week Farage’s former deputy leader madeoutrageous comments blaming gays for HIV, saying we lead ‘short, miserable lives.’ If anything is making us miserable it’s their fear-mongering and demonization, which makes people afraid to get tested or discuss their status.”
ACTUP are joining with a growing coalition of community groups challenging racism, xenophobia and prejudice, building protests against UKIP’s right-wing rhetoric up until the elections.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said in October, when asked whether which kinds of people should be allowed to enter the UK: “People who do not have HIV, to be frank. That’s a good start. And people with a skill.”
He has faced criticism for the comments, with HIV/AIDS charities including the Terrence Higgins Trust and National AIDS Trust condemning the comments, as well as a number of other politicians.
Mr Carswell’s father is an eminent physician who is regarded as having been one of the first medical researchers to identify HIV while working in Uganda.
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