Several years before AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) formed an organized response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, early discourse by queer HIV/AIDS activists in response to the initial devastation would inspire the formation of organizations such as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and People with AIDS (PWA). Consisting of 11 members from around the country, the PWA advisory committee gathered with urgency in June 1983 about the rapidly increasing AIDS epidemic, and their meeting at a gay and lesbian conference in Denver birthed the historic manifesto, known as the Denver Principles. The Denver Principles emphasized the need for rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS, specifically an end to social and medical discrimination that many have and continue to face even now. The categories include recommendations for healthcare professionals, rights for people with AIDS, and recommendations for people living with AIDS. The principles have since been endorsed by the World Health Organization, having become a model for the treatment and medical respect of persons living with HIV/AIDS and, more generally, an early model of patient self-advocacy for all. Of the original 11 authors, Richard Berkowitz is the last surviving member and co-author of the Denver Principles. The legacies of LGBTQ+ activism and courage in the face of institutional abandonment live on in our current exhibition Love Rules: The Harm Reduction Archives of Heather Edney and Richard Berkowitz, currently on view in @momaps1 PS1’s Homeroom space through October 6. Organized by Blake Paskal, Programs Manager, Visual AIDS, and Sheldon Gooch, Curatorial Assistant, MoMA PS1, in collaboration with Greg Ellis, Archivist and Curator,Ward 5B Love Rules and related programs build on Visual AIDS’s ongoing engagement with harm reduction, including its 2021 collaboration with MoMA PS1: Harm Reduction Is Not a Metaphor. #loverules #momaps1 #visualaids (fb)

Join us on April 26 for the “Love Rules: The Harm Reduction Archives of Heather Edney and Richard Berkowitz” exhibition Open House at @momaps1 Homeroom as we gather to honor the work of Richard Berkowitz and Heather Edney, two early pioneers of Harm Reduction. Berkowitz’s half of the exhibition features, amongst personal archival ephemera, Berkowitz, fellow activist Michael Callen, and the late physician and virologist Joseph Sonnabend’s, “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach” (1983). The 40-page booklet emerged from Berkowitz’ experience as an activist, writer, graduate student, and sex worker. After his diagnosis of AIDS in the early 80s, a former client reached out seeking a connection, suggesting they avoid penetrative sex in favor of other sex acts, like BDSM practices, which allowed Richard to continue sex work amid the crisis. This prompted a realization for Richard that there could be ways to have sex safely. And thus, an important work of harm reduction was born. The “Love Rules: The Harm Reduction Archives of Heather Edney and Richard Berkowitz” will be on view at MoMA PS1 from April 24 to October 6. In conjunction with the Open House event, Visual AIDS will screen the short documentary “Love is the Drug” by Liz Roberts at 1 pm. Visit the link in bio to RSVP for the documentary screening.on April 26! Entrance to the exhibition and MoMA PS1 is always free for New Yorkers. Images: [1] Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, Michael Callen, and Richard Berkowitz. Photograph. Photographer: Richard Dworkin. Courtesy Richard Berkowitz. [2] Richard Berkowitz and Michael Callen get punked by Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence member, Bobbi Campbell, Denver. Photograph. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Richard Berkowitz. [3] Matthew Sarner gets a hug from Bob Checci in Denver. Photograph. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Richard Berkowitz. [4] Manuscript for “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach”. Photograph. Photographer unknown. Courtsey of Richard Berkowitz. (fb)