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Kazaoka died October 2 at 83 at her home in New York City. A memorial service was held for her Sunday.
Kazaoka was an advocate for those living with HIV, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups.
Nanette Kazaoka, a longtime member of ACT UP New York, is being remembered as a fierce advocate for people with HIV, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups.
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Kazaoka died October 2 at 83 at her home in New York City. A memorial service was held for her Sunday.
“She is perhaps best remembered for her participation in a 2004 protest in front of Madison Square Garden during the Republican National Convention, when she and 11 fellow activists staged a dramatic naked demonstration, demanding debt cancellation for impoverished countries,” notes an obituary written by her daughter Kelly Kochendorfer. “‘Bush, Stop AIDS. Drop the Debt Now!’ they chanted, with slogans stenciled in black paint on their bodies. The bold protest drew national attention and underscored the urgency of global debt relief as a key element in the fight against AIDS.”
She also participated in “Stop the Church,” a demonstration at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York in 1989, and protests against homophobia in the military. When arrested, “she always approached the consequences with humor and resolve,” according to her daughter.
Kazaoka, born Nanette Natalina Bottinelli, was a straight woman who became deeply involved with gay culture while living on Fire Island in the late 1960s. She was further moved to activism by the death of her second husband, Katsushiga “Kats” Kazaoka, a Japanese American psychologist who had been interned during World War II. He died of cancer in 1984, and she began working as a receptionist while studying occupational therapy at Downstate Medical Center. By 1990, she had earned her degree and sought work with AIDS patients.
She joined ACT UP NY in 1988 and remained active in the group for 35 years. She protested at New York’s City Hall, challenged anti-LGBTQ+ policies at St. Luke’s Hospital, where she worked, and spoke out against military recruiting at her workplace due to homophobia in the armed forces.
She was featured in Sarah Schulman’s book Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993, and the 2020 New York Times T Living Magazine story “Legends, Pioneers and Survivors: The Activists” by David France. Her photo was on the cover of Victoria Noe’s book Fag Hags, Divas and Moms: The Legacy of Straight Women in the AIDS Community.
Kazaoka, who died of complications from vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, donated her brain to the Mount Sinai NIH Brain and Tissue Repository for research to advance the understanding of the human brain health and disease to help end dementia.
She is survived by her daughters, Kochendorfer and Kim Skrobe; her son-in-law, John Skrobe; her granddaughter, Stella Skrobe; and her daughter-in-law, Christine Arax.
