5 Courageous Drag Stars Giving Visibility to the HIV+ Topic

The important work of the Media on giving visibility to HIV-positive people must continue, and we’re here to continue elevating the voices of Living Y Ready. 

Only a few celebrities like Billy Porter or Conchita Wurst have had the courage to speak publicly about their HIV status, however, more and more LGBTQ stars have opened up about this topic on television, and a good example of it has been the brave stories that have come out of the talent show Drag Race. 

Since its first season, HIV has been discussed in Drag Race. It’s a show that has managed to break taboos around HIV worldwide, since it has been presenting HIV-positive contestants, who have wanted to take advantage of this platform to talk about such a muted topic. 

Let’s meet some of the contestants that have shared their brave story of living with HIV.

Trinity K. Bone’t

In Season 6, we met the fierce drag star, who spoke about her experience as a 22-year-old living with HIV. Years later, she returned for the last season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars and in one of the episodes, her weekly challenge consisted of talking to her colleagues honestly about a specific topic.

“As a person who is openly HIV positive, for a long time I was a lot of secrets for a lot of people. But I’m not anyone’s secret. I’m successful, I have my stuff together, I’m good in bed. I am taking care of myself, I am undetectable, which is untransmittable,” said Trinity K. Bonet. “There are many people here who are not informed that you can be with someone who is HIV positive if you are not detectable and do not contract the virus,” he continued, managing to do pedagogy through an entertainment program that apparently could be very superficial.

In Drag Race they have also reminded us that, despite the fact that the LGBTIQ+ community is highly marked by the AIDS virus, heterosexual people do not have to lower their guard. 

Charity Kase

In the international versions we have also seen queens who have broken spears against the stigmas of HIV and AIDS. In the UK’s third season, drag Charity Case explained her HIV-positive status in one of the episodes.

Charity was putting on makeup with her partner Kitty Scott-Claus when she explained that at the age of 17 she began to come out of it, and at 18 she was diagnosed with HIV, in addition to other venereal diseases. Without going into too much detail, Charity talked about someone taking advantage of her and that she still has the aftermath of that night.

In her speech she explained how difficult it is for her to flirt on dating apps because she is HIV positive such as “You are sick, you are disgusting, stay away from me.” Horrible and disgusting comments that are really demeaning and mean. The trauma of receiving a positive diagnosis actually comes from the stigma of HIV,” said the participant.

Charity also explained that she takes daily medication and that thanks to that she is undetectable and that she has a normal life expectancy. However, she is afraid to meet someone to be in a relationship, as she does not feel capable of putting herself in such a vulnerable place.

Enorma Jean

We also found out that Drag Race Italia contestant is HIV positive. The most veteran (and controversial) of the contestants explained how the death of her father led her into a spiral of self-destruction, in which she had unprotected sex. She says one night she began to feel ill, to sweat a lot at night and that’s when she went to the hospital to have some tests done.

“I am HIV positive. I discovered it in 2008, at a time when there was therapy and therefore I will never be thankful enough to science because now I should be dead or feel terrible, instead I have zero viral load, all the correct parameters and I am a very healthy person”, Enorma expressed, ending the speech with a message of visibility and inspiration. 

“If I say it, I don’t do it because I want to hear myself say ‘poor thing’ because I am not a poor thing, I am the one who has done it, one of the many who are doing it and one of the many who will achieve it.”