Never Silent

In 1987, somebody shoved a flyer into the hand of Peter Staley announcing a massive AIDS demonstration. As a closeted gay man on Wall Street, Staley was familiar with the homophobia common on trading floors. He also had recently been diagnosed with AIDS-Related Complex. A week after the protest, Staley attended a meeting of the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power-ACT UP. ACT UP would change the course of AIDS, pressuring the NIH, the FDA, and 3 administrations to finally respond with research that saved millions of lives. Staley, a shrewd strategist with nerves of steel, organized some of the group's best-known actions, from shutting down trading on the floor of the NY Stock Exchange to putting a giant condom over the house of Senator Jesse Helms. Here is the inside story of what brought Staley to ACT UP and the explosive and oftens painful years to follow, filled with triumph, joy, loss, and persistence.Never Silent is guaranteed to inspire the activist within all of us.