From ACT UP to Q Patrol, we are the cavalry  

By Johnny Trlica 

Commentary: During the peak of the AIDS epidemic, the LGBTQ+ community realized that the government did not care about how many queers were dying from the disease and that the public in general was apathetic. There was not a cavalry coming to the rescue so if they were to be saved, they must do it themselves. 

Out of that realization, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) was born. “Throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, AIDS claimed the lives of thousands of New Yorkers per year, with city, state, and national governments doing little to address the crisis. In response to government inaction and homophobia, a group of New York City activists founded ACT UP, a grassroots, queer-led protest movement to urge action, call for change, and stand in the gap as thousands of queer people died. Due to their dogged persistence, steadfast unity in diversity, and pointed demonstrations, ACT UP achieved lasting victories in medical treatment, health care access, and more,” reads an article published by the ALCU. 

In the 1990s in Houston, teenage boys had a ritual of leaving their safe, quiet suburban homes in places like The Woodlands, driving into Montrose on weekend nights and beating up queers.  

The most notorious gay bashing incident occurred on July 4, 1991, when Paul Broussard and Phillip Smith, two gay men, were murdered while leaving Heaven, a gay bar in the 800 block of Pacific Street. They were kicked, beaten, stabbed and hit with boards imbedded with nails. 

“Emergency responders were slow to answer in Montrose for fear of contracting AIDS (even in the early ’90s),” an article in Houstonia Magazine noted, “so the EMS didn’t arrive until the early morning, leaving Broussard untended for hours.” 

Once again, there was not a cavalry riding to the rescue to save Houston’s LGBTQ+ community, so they had to do it themselves. “In the early 1990s, following a series of violent gay-bashing incidents in Montrose — and the fact that HPD wasn’t taking reports of gay-bashing seriously — a group of queer Houstonians and allies teamed up to form a neighborhood watch organization known as Q Patrol. The group walked the Montrose streets, focusing especially on the many gay bars dotting the neighborhood and acting as a visible presence to deter harassment and crime,” wrote the Houston Chronicle. 

Hurricane Beryl rolled across the area on my birthday, July 7. Power to 90 percent of Galveston was knocked out as well as large sections of the Houston metro area. Even though we have always been told when preparing for a hurricane, to have enough food and supplies to last at least two weeks, and that power could be out for several weeks, many residents did not heed those warnings.  

It’s like we expect a return to normalcy as soon as the winds die down and the rain stops. The general public, unlike our queer community, expects to be rescued. They whined and complained about the slow response from CenterPoint and government agencies. I, on the other hand, hunkered down, slept in the air-conditioned car with my dog when the house got too hot and stayed with a friend who had power. I was my own cavalry. 

In high school history and government classes, we were taught that in America no man is above the law. What we have learned over the past few years is that was a lie. After the former president was indicted for nearly one hundred crimes in jurisdictions up and down the Atlantic seaboard and seeing those charges being delayed and, in some cases, dismissed by a judge appointed by the defendant himself, we see that the judicial system is applied differently to the wealthy and well-connected. 

Even when the 45th President was convicted of thirty-four felonies, justice was denied after the Supreme Court, with six of the nine members right wing zealots, declaring that the president has immunity for “official acts” while in office. Sentencing is set for next month. Let’s see how that plays out. How over 40 percent of voters can still support the man defies logic. 

What the AIDS crisis, gay bashing and hurricane preparedness have taught us is that there is no knight in shining armor or cavalry riding in to save the day. Just as we took initiatives against government inaction during the AIDS crisis, gay bashing in Houston and hurricanes, the courts will not save us from a second Trump presidency as many had hoped. They are not the cavalry we were hoping for. If we are to be rescued from a second Trump presidency, we must vote. We are our own cavalry. 

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