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DIVAs: the Drag Initiative to Vanquish AIDS!
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HX magazine, March 19, 2004
Doctor Love: DIVAs put on their heels for healthier homos
by David Douglas
Chanting “Put it on, roll it down, stick it in, go to town!” as they distribute safer-sex kits, the glamorously campy girls of DIVA - the Drag Initiative to Vanquish AIDS - are keeping sex not only safe, but also fun! The DIVA Project, an outgrowth of the Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training (CHEST), was born quite by accident, says co-director Dr. Jeffrey T. Parsons. “As part of an intervention with HIV-positive gay men, we scripted a beauty pageant where we dressed in drag personifying various drugs and competing for the title Biggest Mess. We were so well- received - DIVA was born!” he recalls of the group that also hits Eighth Avenue in costume to pass out safer-sex kits.
In fact, Parsons says, places where they once tried unsuccessfully to hand out kits while in street garb now welcome them with open arms. “Having a drag troupe as a front-line source for HIV prevention is an innovative and non-threatening mode of reaching the gay community,” adds another DIVA, Dr. Brad Thomason.
If repeat performances are any indication of success, these gals are already shining stars. They’ve appeared at Barracuda, SBNY, View Bar and major events such as Wigstock, the Gay Life Expo and the Erotic Expo - with four appearances scheduled for March alone! “It’s a fun, non-preachy way to get safer-sex information out there,” Parsons says, “And our research shows that men who talk about HIV before having sex are less likely to become infected.”
These beauties haven’t restricted their efforts solely to preventing the spread of HIV - they’ve also taken their show on the road to help stem Los Angeles’ recent syphilis epidemic. “We were out there attending a conference,” Parsons says. “As part of their Stop the Sores campaign to address rising syphilis infections, the Los Angeles County Department of Health has an outreach van that cruises L.A. with their own creation, Phil the Syphilis Sore. He urges folks to test for syphilis. We joined Phil one afternoon to help in that effort. They did three times their usual testing that day!” Obviously these divas have bicoastal appeal!
The DIVA project is only one of many research and education programs CHEST is pursuing. By creating dialogues around gay men’s sexual issues, CHEST hopes to understand what motivates or prevents men from having safer sex. “DIVA’s unique,” Parsons says, “When an outreach worker hands you a condom, it's about disease...when a drag queen hands you a condom, it';s about SEX!”
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About the DIVAS
The Drag Initiative to Vanquish AIDS (aka ?The DIVAs?) reach out to the GLBT communities about drug use and unsafe sex with a sassy widsom that
only draq queens can get away with! The DIVAs distribute safer sex packets as well as other sexual health information (testicular exam anyone?). The DIVAs have brought their their sexual health edu-tainment exploits to past events such as Hot Shots! (in collaboration with the
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene), NYC Gay Business Expo,
Gay Life Expo, Gay Pride Rally, NYC, Folsom Street East, LA Gay Erotic
Expos, among others. For the second consecutive year the DIVAs will be
the emcee's for the annual Gay Pride March in NYCat the 42nd street
review stand. In 2005, Heritage of Pride honored the DIVAs with the
PRIDE Award for outstanding contribution to the organization by volunteers in the past year.
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Contact the DIVAs
Inquiries about the DIVAs appearing at your event/bar or club: Christian Grov, cgrov@hunter.cuny.edu
General information about the DIVAs for ASOs/CBOs, health educators, and academics:
Dr. Jose Nanin, jnanin@hunter.cuny.edu
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DIVA web links
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