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(and David Pasquarelli) By Jesse Monteagudo
In 1999 Petrelis shocked even Larry Kramer when he publicly demanded that the Elton John AIDS Foundation release a financial statement. More recently Petrelis charged that Dr. Jeffrey Klausner of the San Francisco Department of Public Health was trying to shut down the AOL "men for men" chat rooms because of the chat rooms' contribution to the spread of HIV. This was not the first time - or the last - that Klausner and Petrelis crossed words, nor was the doctor Petrelis's only regular target. Things got so bad that Klausner, Health Department spokeswoman Eileen Shields, mayoral advisor Michael Shriver and several journalists from the San Francisco Chronicle and the Bay Area Reporter got a judge to issue restraining orders against the volatile activist. Apparently, the restraining order didn't work. On November 28 Petrelis and fellow AIDS activist David Pasquarelli were arrested for "acts of terrorism" against newspaper reporters and public health officials.
There is no question that Petrelis and Pasquarelli are pains in the butt, and that their zealous fight on behalf of PWAs sometimes crosses the boundaries of decency, courtesy and good taste. But are they guilty of "acts of terrorism"? Their "victims" and the government apparently think so, as do gay activists and journalists like Michelangelo Signorile and Gabriel Rotello. Even Andrew Sullivan, who once found common ground with Petrelis and Pasquarelli, drew back after the arrests and attacked their "extreme left activism" on his Web site. Other activists disagree. "The charges, a large number of felonies and misdemeanors, are out of all proportion to the harms alleged," wrote Bill Dobbs, who also noted that the $1 million bail was "unconscionably high". "The San Francisco prosecutor has succumbed to political pressure," Dobbs said, and "'terrorist' characterizations are made to inflame passions in this post 9-11 time of anxiety." Scott Tucker, in an open letter, reminded us that "we should presume innocence until proven guilty". "The frustration with the rising incidence of HIV infection among gay males is real," Tucker noted.
One of Pasquarelli's actions: barging into the office of San Francisco Health Department Director Mitch Katz in order to "fire" Katz
"We need political action to get the right messages, medicine and prevention efforts to as many people as possible. ... Petrelis and Pasquarelli should learn some manners, even and especially with political opponents. But they have a point: the most important one being (to my own mind) that AIDS, Incorporated will never serve the needs of mere queers unless there is continued friction between some folks with high salaries and some folks who still get sexually transmitted diseases." On December 12 an impromptu coalition of activists issued an "open letter of concern" in defense of Petrelis and Pasquarelli: "While we ... may disagree with them on politics or tactics, the history of AIDS has often compelled aggressive responses by activists. The prospect of high bail and escalating criminal charges for protest is a genuine threat to civil liberties."
This is not a good time to disagree with the powers that be. The George W. Bush Administration is determined to curtail civil liberties in its fight against terrorism, and any one who disagrees is, in the words of Attorney General John Ashcroft, assisting the enemy. A poll conducted by Zogby International shows wide support for the Administration's anti-terrorist programs, and most Americans apparently do not mind having the government monitor their phone calls, survey their public places, search their vehicles or read their mail. And they certainly don't mind if the government puts its critics in their place. Petrelis and Pasquarelli are not the first victims of the government's zeal and the public's fear, nor will they be the last. |
Michael Petrelis: Activism gone too far, or victim of paraonia? 
David Paquarelli of ACT UP-San Francisco 
© 1997-2002 BEI