Stop the Church

Stop the Church was a demonstration by members of ACT UP (Aids Coalition to Unleash Power) and WHAM (Women's Health Action and Mobilization) held on December 10, 1989 at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Approximately 4,500 protestors joined in what was the largest demonstration against a religious organization in US history. One-hundred and eleven protesters were arrested, 53 of whom were arrested inside the church, after disrupting the Sunday morning mass.

The main objective of the demonstration was to express outrage at John Cardinal O'Connor's opposition to the teaching of safe sex in the public school system, as well as his opposition to abortion. His appointment to president Ronald Reagan's "Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS" gave him unprecedented influence over the public school system by a religious leader.

The action was condemned widely, not only by local politicians but President George H.W. Bush, Senator Alphonse D'Amato and other national figures. It became the pervasive subject in the news throughout the week. It was also headline news in several European countries. The thing that most gay activists now agree on is that the demonstration brought the subject of AIDS into the American mainstream; something that activists had worked toward for several years.

Camille Paglia wrote in a December 2008 Salon column that a consecrated host was desecrated by a protester, an act considered by Catholics to be an outrageous sacrilege. However, the protestors were greatly admired by many in the gay community, including John Rechy, who praised the action. A short documentary about the protest, titled "Stop the Church", was originally scheduled to air on PBS. The documentary was eventually dropped from national broadcast by PBS, but still aired on public television stations in several major cities including New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.