February 13,1990: AIDS activism at full throttle.

Many of today's AIDS activists are taking on the role of "sex police," as revealed in the current issue. But it's not the first time we've reported on the radical tactics and attitudes of America's AIDS warriors.

Fifteen years ago The Advocate profiled "angry young protesters" making headlines with civil disobedience meant to shatter AIDS complacency and encourage safer sex. ACT UP's Peter Staley, who appears in the current issue, talked about having shut down the New York Stock Exchange. Then 28, Staley also starred in Midnight Snack, an explicit safe-sex video in which he licked whipped cream and syrup off another man's condom-covered erection. "It's about time we upped the stakes dining the epidemic," he said.

In San Francisco, Waiyde Palmer of Stop AIDS Now or Else disrupted the San Francisco Opera and tied up rush-hour traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. "I'm willing to push a few people's buttons in the short terra if we can shatter denial in the long term," he said.