Drag Race UK star fights HIV stigma with World AIDS Day gala

Drag Race star Astina Mandela: “If you have HIV, you just take a pill like you would if you had a headache.” (BBC)

rupaul’s drag race uk Star Astina Mandela is hosting the World AIDS Gala in support of East London-based HIV support service Positive East to tackle the “silently hidden” stigma surrounding the virus.

World AIDS Day celebrations are Sponsored by HIV The Naked Trutha group of people fighting to end the stigma of HIV through art. The organization was founded during lockdown by teacher and former dancer Joshua Royal.

This year marks 10 years since Joshua himself was diagnosed with HIV, and 20 years since then. positive eastis an organization that provides counseling and peer support to people living with HIV and was formed through the merger of the Grove Center and the London East AIDS Network.

In recent years, the reality of living with HIV has entered the public consciousness, and more people than ever are aware that people diagnosed with HIV can live long, healthy lives by taking just one pill a day.

Health campaigns such as the slogan ‘undetectable = untransmissible’ and increased availability of PrEP have increased public awareness, but stigma and misinformation persist, Joshua says.

“I just got out of a relationship, and I think there’s so much stigma around HIV on dating apps,” he told PinkNews. “I think people still think of this as a gay male disease and don’t understand that women and trans men and trans women can also get it. [can get it]. It can affect anyone, and…they’re afraid to talk about it. ”

The number of people diagnosed with HIV in the UK increased from 2022 to 2023; National AIDS Trust The majority of newly diagnosed individuals reported being heterosexual men and women. Still, prejudice against homosexuals remains.

“Dating apps block you because you have HIV. [positive] And it’s like I’m not a bad person [because I have HIV]. It’s because they saw that I was HIV positive and were like, “Block block block.” That’s prejudice. ”

Astina is best known for appearing in drag race uk Season 2 agreed, suggesting that the stigma is “hidden in silence.”

“Even though we know…that there’s a path forward for you, that it’s okay, that there’s medicine, that there’s a way to be healthy. [and] It’s okay, but that stigma is still with us,” she says.

“It’s part of our DNA as queer people, so changing that, releasing it, and not thinking about it is very difficult to shake off from all of us.”

Many gay men who grew up in the shadow of the AIDS crisis grew up afraid of being diagnosed with HIV, convinced by the media, politicians, and loved ones involved that it was a death sentence. Now that’s no longer the case. Joshua and Astina want that message to be heard.

“[People with HIV] Just take a tablet, just like you would take a tablet when you have a headache. Let’s celebrate that in 2025 there will be medicines for all of these things that we didn’t have in the past and now we have, so it’s okay. In fact, we are the safest we have ever been,” says Astina.

“All the stigma that still remains from those people is meaningless. It just comes from uneducated ignorance,” she added. “We have to understand and educate ourselves that it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s just HIV, baby.”

In 2023, there were approximately 110,000 people living with HIV in the UK, but half of those on treatment were over 50, suggesting that improved treatments could help those infected with the virus live normal, healthy lives.

“I used to be afraid of HIV, but now I’ve got it and I know there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Joshua added.