Since the election, I havent been sleeping much, and I know Im not alone.When it became clear that Donald Trumpconvicted felon, opponent of LGBTQ+ rights, and found liable of sexual abusehad won the election, many queer people feared the worst. The Trevor Project reported a 700% increase in use of their crisis services by November 6, and a staggering 90% of LGBTQ+ youth said that the election was having a negative impact on their well-being.Considering that Trump and Vance spent much of the election cycle targeting the queer community, this reaction isnt surprising. After all, the infamous Project 2025 has been making the rounds for months, and with a Republican-run Senate as well as a conservative Supreme Court, its no wonder that people are worried.Its easy to feel powerless in a country that seems to care more about their pocketbook than protecting those from marginalized communities. Its easy to feel hopeless when it seems like things are just getting worse. But giving up is exactly what they want.Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel once said that, Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.Now is not the time to be silent.Now is the time to act.Its once again time to ACT UPThere is perhaps nothing more American than engaging in civil disobedience. From the Boston Tea Party to the Greensboro Four Sit-In, the United States has been founded and shaped by those who exercised their rights to make their voice heard.While theres no correct way to go about protesting injustice, looking back at successful campaigns for social change such as those led by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is a great place to start. ACT UP describes themselves as united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis. Though the group remains active today, it is perhaps best known for its protests in the 1980s and 1990s during the AIDS Epidemic.The group became famous for its Silence=Death posters, which depict an upward-facing pink triangle. The impactful image took its inspiration from the Holocaust, where upside down pink triangles were used to dehumanize gay prisoners of concentration camps. The creators hoped to signal the need for those in the LGBTQ+ community to speak up while simultaneously calling for political action and social change from those outside the community. Ultimately, it became such an iconic image that even decades later, this message is still a familiar (and deeply relevant) one today.What We Can Learn From ACT UPFocus your message: Its easy to get bogged down by the weight of all of the different problems in this country, but one thing that made ACT UP in the 80s and 90s so effective was their focus. Every action taken was to end the AIDs crisis, and the most successful protests all had clear focuses that could easily be communicated to the public and officials. Despite there being plenty of other issues that ACT UP members cared deeply about related to the LGBTQ+ community, the organizations commitment to one clear goal made it deeply effective.Give specific, actionable demands: Whenever a protest happened, ACT UP came with a list of clear goals that they hoped to accomplish. For instance, during the 1987 Wall Street Protest, ACT UP disrupted rush hour traffic in order to demand that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) shorten drug approval time so that those who were already infected with HIV could benefit from newer treatments. Shortly after, the FDA shortened the approval time from nine years to two and by 1990 had created a parallel track for medications treating life-threatening conditions such as HIV.Similarly, in 1989, ACT UP led the New York Stock Exchange Protest, which disrupted the opening bell of the Stock Exchange for the first time in history. At the time, AZT was the only available treatment for AIDS, and the company who owned it, Burroughs Wellcome, took advantage by keeping the price sky-high. Within four days of the protest, the price of AZT had been lowered by 20%.Make it clear who youre demanding change from: Its important to remember that just because someone works for or with a particular entity doesnt mean they actually have the power to influence it. We all need to make a living at the end of the day, and sometimes you have to take the job you can get. Yelling at an entry-level worker isnt going to accomplish much except ruining their (already very long) day. Similarly, demanding change from too large of an entity or too vague, such as the entire U.S. government, makes it easy for everyone to assume its someone elses problem to sort out.The targets for ACT UPs protests were usually the pharmaceutical companies who made drugs to treat HIV/AIDS and the FDA. For instance, in 1988, 1,500 ACT UP protesters seized control of the FDA headquarters and shut down the agency for the day. They held signs like Federal Death Administration and demanded quicker drug approval times for life-saving treatments. By protesting the agency responsible, they ensured that they couldnt be ignored by those with the power to change things for the better.Make sure the media coverage is guaranteed: With endless input from social media, news channels, and the internet at large, it has never been harder to capture the nations attention. However, ACT UPs strategies for getting widespread media coverage are remarkably timeless.Journalist and activist Ann Northrop stated that ACT UPs actions are always, always, always planned to be dramatic enough to capture public attention. They often accomplished this by going where they knew there would already be national focus. For instance, on April 15, 1987, ACT UP descended on the New York City General Post Office. Because so many media outlets were already present to cover last minute tax filers, ACT UP was more or less guaranteed coverage.Another way that ACT UP ensured coverage was by localizing their efforts. For example, during the Seize the FDA protest, ACT UP ensured that they could get local coverage across the nation by positioning protesters with signs that had their cities and a megaphone to communicate their location to journalists.Make your voice heard: If ACT UP can teach us anything, its this: every single voice matters. Some of their most successful protests were nowhere near the largest our country has seen, yet they created specific changes that had life-saving impacts to the queer community.Its easy to get overwhelmed by everything that feels broken. Just remember that its not your job to fix it all. Find the way that you can help your community the most directly, and go from there.You might be amazed to realize what we can accomplish together.To learn more about what ACT UP is doing today, visit actupny.com.The post How the LGBTQ+ community can use the lessons of ACT UP to fight what comes next appeared first on News Is Out.