Jose DeMarco told a group of protesters outside Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey’s office in Washington, D.C., about living with HIV since 1987. After telling the group about the medications that have kept him and many others alive, the queer activist shouted two words: “Mic check.”
This code signified he would sit in front of Toomey’s office door until he was arrested.
DeMarco was representing ACT UP Philadelphia, an HIV/AIDS-activism organization, at a July 19 demonstration opposing Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He was among 155 protesters arrested at Senate offices throughout the capital.
DeMarco noted he has been arrested at least 13 times for acts of civil disobedience.
“I’ve done it so many times. I know the routine. I say, ‘Here we go again, Jose. You’re getting arrested,’” DeMarco said with a laugh.
He said he was detained for at least six hours and did not leave the city until after midnight. However, the nine other ACT UP members did not leave him behind.
“You don’t leave until everyone is out of jail,” DeMarco noted, as per the group’s policy.
“It’s really good when people you love and respect got your back,” he added. “It’s an amazing feeling of solidarity.”
He noted minimal feelings of nervousness but said he felt safe due to the security cameras within the office.
“There’s always a little apprehension about what if I get the one police officer that hates people with AIDS or something like that,” DeMarco said. “That goes through your mind. But [since] I’ve done it so many times, I know what to expect. I know how it’s done. But I’m sure [for] a lot of people doing this for the first time, it was really scary.”
DeMarco noted his motivation for getting arrested and said he would do it again. “Civil disobedience drives up the cost of social injustice.
“The progress we have made fighting HIV and AIDS is really amazing especially coming from a generation that [I] saw,” he added. “People were going to funerals once a week or at least three times a month in Philly and I remember that vividly. Going from that to no medication, no treatment, no hope to actually having medication that prevents HIV — PrEP, one pill a day. It’s amazing. People are actually talking about the end of AIDS. Education is a functional cure. It gave people a lot of hope. We can live now. We’re not going to die. We can end this.”