Issue/Opponent: During the 1990s, North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms opposed civil rights legislation, abortion, and HIV research. He was one of the chief architects of AIDS-related stigma in the U.S. He was against federal spending on HIV research, treatment, and prevention. He considered homosexuals as “weak” and “morally sick” and believed legislation and research on HIV/Aids was tantamount. Senator Jesse Helms would say, “There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy.” When he would say things like this he created a hostile environment on the Senate floor. Dilemma Action: On September 5, 1991, in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Arlington, Virginia a group of activists from ACT UP showed up at Senator Jesse Helmes’s house. They arrived with ladders to climb to the roof of the house and put a giant fabric that was inflatable. When the fabric was inflated it was a big yellow condom that read “A condom to stop unsafe politics: Helmes is deadlier than a virus.” The inflatable condom was powered for 15 to 20 minutes until the police arrived. The goal of this demonstration was to protest against Republican lawmakers who have taken a negative stance on AIDS-related issues. Outcome: When police arrived at the scene the protestors unplugged the inflatable condom and took it down as the police requested. Once they took off the condom from the house the house looked the same way it had looked before the protest, and no one was arrested or charged.