Robert Garcia
NOTE: Robert is one of the facilitators. Being a facilitator is a big, difficult job that requires attempting to control a potentially loud and unruly group of a lot of people. More preparation is needed than for almost all the other people attending the meeting. Please only express interest in being a facilitator if you are willing to put in the preparation work and feel you would be good at it.
Background: Robert is a 27 year old half-Navajo/half-Mexican gay man. He grew up in Whittier, California, and went to college at USC. He moved to New York in 1985 or 1986 with a lover (Tony). They broke up quickly, and Robert stayed in New York. Robert is currently a temporary secretary at an insurance-related company, looking for work (like the work he has done before) as a computer analyst. He started coming to ACT UP in late 1988 after the second March on Washington. He had no activism experience before that. He has not been tested for HIV.
Role in ACT UP: Robert is currently one of the four facilitators of ACT UP meetings, and is also involved with the Speakers Bureau.
Groups/friends at the meeting: Some friends Robert met through working at A Different Light (a gay bookstore), like David Robinson and Liz Tracey, encouraged Robert to come to ACT UP. Robert has become fast friends with Karen Ramspacher, who started coming to ACT UP shortly after he did. Robert lives in a big commercial loft space at 60 Warren Street, 5th Floor with Catherine Saalfield among others. This loft is a frequent meeting place for small ACT UP sub-groups, particularly the newly-forming DIVA TV. Robert is also involved with Majority Action.
Specific tasks at the March 13, 1989 meeting: Robert is one of the facilitators.
Additional information: This interview with Robert was filmed just two months before March 13, 1989. I highly encourage you to watch/listen to it, at least the first half hour and the last 6 minutes (where Robert talks about being a facilitator):
https://actuporalhistory.org/lc-archive/interview-of-robert-garcia