Connie Norman
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Connie Norman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1949 |
| Died | July 15, 1996 (aged 46–47) |
| Occupations | AIDS and gay and transgender rights activist |
Connie Norman (1949 – July 15, 1996) was an AIDS and gay and transgender rights activist with ACT UP/LA. Beginning in 1991, she was the host of the first daily commercial talk radio show about gay issues in Los Angeles, and also co-hosted a television show. After her death from AIDS, ACT UP scattered her ashes on the White House lawn.
Norman was a member of the AIDS activism group ACT UP ("AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power").[1] She also worked with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to campaign for AIDS services.[2] She was sometimes nicknamed "the AIDS Diva" because of her outspokenness.[2][3]
In the summer of 1990, Norman protested that home healthcare providers contracted by Los Angeles County refused to go to minority neighborhoods after dark, and that some did not accept Medicare or MediCal.[4] She protested that the county's outpatient clinic was also understaffed to the point that there were four-month wait times for appointments.[4] Norman and other ACT UP members formed an "Alternative Budget Coalition" with about fifteen other organizations, rented the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors' meeting room, and held a mock hearing on the county's budget.[4] She also agitated for needle exchange programs.[5]
In 1991, Norman worked with the LIFE Lobby to pass AB101, a bill prohibiting employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of sexual orientation.[6] Norman participated in a hunger strike with Rob Roberts to draw attention to the bill.[7] When California governor Pete Wilson vetoed it, a riot and subsequent protests broke out.[6][8]
On October 13, 1996, after her death, her friend David Reid and other ACT UP activists marched from the Capitol to the White House and scattered her ashes (and those of other activists including David Wojnarowicz) on the White House lawn.[1]