By Evelyn Bailey
“We are at war against AIDS. Our front-line soldiers are PWAs (People With AIDS), and we will win this war in time. Our troops are being betrayed by enemies in the federal bureaucracy.”
These are the words of Martin Kazu Hiraga, spoken in April, 1988. Martin was an energetic young man, with a warm smile, a huge heart, and the spark of life and justice that moved him into a position of leadership in the Rochester gay community.
Martin was a co-organizer of Rochester ACT-UP (The AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power), and along with many others, was outraged in 1988 by the presidential candidates’ silence on AIDS issues. ACT UP Rochester and New York City planned a militant, non-violent demonstration at the Democratic presidential debates in Rochester on April 16 and 17, 1988.
