I'm Working With RuPaul's Drag Race to Prevent HIV

I was living in Washington D.C. the first time I gathered with friends at The Duplex Diner, a popular LGBTQ+ meeting spot in the nation’s capital, to watch “the gay Super Bowl.”

That’s what we called the season finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the five-time Emmy Award-winning reality show.

For many of us who didn’t grow up hooked on football, watching our favorite performers compete for the title of “America’s next drag superstar” packs the same kind of drama, fandom and competitive cheering as the big game does for our sports-loving friends.

We used to create March Madness-style brackets as the season progressed to bet on which of our favorite queens would win the coveted crown and scepter.

Just as football packs sports fans into sports bars, Drag Race brings the LGBTQ+ community together in all our glory, as we gather in our favorite hangouts to cheer, gasp and snap as the final, fateful lip sync challenge unfolds.

Every year, the show keeps getting better.

Alex Orr (L) at Rupaul’s Drag Race premiere. Alex pictured with Sasha Colby, the winner of Rupaul’s Drag Race season 15 (R).

Alex Orr

One difference I appreciate, however, between the Super Bowl and the RuPaul finale is the focus of the commercials and “pre-game” activities.

Instead of the occasional iconic beer and snack food ads, RuPaul and her cast are increasingly focused on using their platform to educate viewers about important issues.

One recent topic has been PrEP, a medicine that can be taken as a daily oral pill or a long-acting injectable to dramatically reduce the chance of contracting HIV through sex.

As a 20-year veteran in the HIV prevention trenches, I cannot stress enough the importance of normalizing this message to overcome the stigma that has frustrated many past efforts to avert HIV transmission. Prevention, truly, is the best medicine.

Preventing HIV has been at the forefront of my mind since I moved to Washington, DC as a consultant to lead a large-scale HIV testing project for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When I started in my field, PrEP didn’t yet exist. My fieldwork started in the early chat rooms of gay.com, using interventional interviewing to enlist messengers who would promote the benefits of regular condom use.

Things changed in 2012, the year that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its first approval for PrEP. Back then, despite PrEP’s substantial effectiveness, there was an unfortunate stigma that prevented its rapid uptake.

In the early years, people who put “on PrEP” on their online profiles were often shamed as promiscuous. Fortunately today, PrEP on your profile is seen as a badge of honor, demonstrating you are serious about combating this epidemic by protecting yourself and your future partners.

But according to the CDC, PrEP coverage remains uneven. The agency found that 78 percent of white people who could benefit from PrEP have a prescription, while the same can be said for only 11 percent of Black individuals and 21 percent of Latinos who could benefit.

Our society’s potential to reduce transmission remains significantly untapped with these glaring disparities.

There are many ways to improve those numbers, but one of the best ways is to start with awareness.

While people with HIV are living longer than ever before thanks to effective treatment, there were still more than 36,000 new cases of HIV reported in 2021. At least three people in the United States contract HIV every hour, the CDC reports.

We’ve come a long way, but we’re not there yet. Younger Americans and communities of color, in particular, have not benefited as much as other groups from advances in HIV treatment and prevention.

This was a big reason why I joined ViiV Healthcare, the only pharmaceutical company devoted exclusively to HIV: To help lead these conversations about PrEP and bring them to the communities who need it most.

Through their sponsorship of Season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I was absolutely gagged—Drag Race translation: Thrilled—to have the chance to attend the season premiere in January. It was like having 50-yard-line seats and on-field passes for the Super Bowl.

This moment was all about forging a connection with culture that brings awareness to PrEP, especially for the queer community.

By bringing awareness of PrEP directly to the show’s audience, we can encourage those who could benefit from HIV prevention to “Get Prepped” and undertake important efforts to destigmatize the PrEP conversation.

As I met with drag legends like Monet Exchange and last year’s winning queen, Sasha Colby, I felt the rush of a 20-year HIV prevention crusader and a middle age RuPaul fanboy.

At the intersection of education and entertainment, I felt tremendous pride in how far we’ve come and the meaningful progress we can yet achieve. I knew I was right where I needed to be at this moment in this historic public health crusade.

Shante, I’ll stay.

Alex Orr is a Director at ViiV Healthcare with 20+ years of expertise in HIV prevention and treatment. He has worked as a federal consultant leading large-scale HIV testing and linkage to care initiatives for the CDC and the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau. Alex’s background is rooted in public health and driving impact for communities impacted by HIV/AIDS.

All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

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