AIDS Activists

While I applaud your editorial (Sept. 10) calling for more needle exchange programs to combat the spread of AIDS, I felt your criticism of ACT-UP LA was off the mark. The “brown and black” community leaders who were upset by the “gay, white” activists had ample time to initiate their own needle exchange programs.

This groundbreaking, initiative-seizing organization should be lauded for its commitment and courage in going where these community leaders dare not go--the back alleys and crime-ridden streets where despair is tragically soothed via potentially AIDS-infected needles. With all the deaths, and the high cost of care, the time for being sensitive to the needs of community leaders is long past. The addicts welcome and utilize the program; and it is their deaths and their potential for spreading the disease that ACT-UP seeks to halt. Let’s give credit where credit is due, and stop chastising the vanguards of our community who are working in the trenches.

JAMES BLOOR, Los Angeles