RuPaul’s Drag Race Star Q Reveals HIV-Positive Diagnosis: ‘It’s So Stigmatized’ (Exclusive)

Q reveals she is HIV positive on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’

Friday’s episode RuPaul’s Drag Race he was emotional for contestant Q.

While preparing for the show, the 26-year-old entertainer from Kansas City, Missouri opened up about her health, revealing that she was diagnosed with HIV two years ago.

PEOPLE has an exclusive clip from the season 16 episode. Q, who is celebrated on the show for her fashionable outfits, was motivated to discuss the topic while putting together her look.

“I’m doing something very sentimental for the runway today,” she said. “It’s inspired by the gay generation that we lost to the AIDS epidemic in the ’80s. So it’s really, really special to me.”

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‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ star Q opens up about his HIV positive status.

MTV

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Coming to terms with the news that she had contracted the human immunodeficiency virus was not easy for Q at first. “When I was first diagnosed, I felt like really lost and I felt, like, super alone,” she told fellow Plane Queen Jane. “I was positive when I was 24. I was most afraid of how I would be treated by my family and people around me who don’t understand it because it is so stigmatized.”

Some of her fears came true. “You know, people said really awful and nasty things to me and almost dehumanized me,” she recalled.

“It’s crazy how much people with HIV have to deal with. I’ve been treated differently by health care providers,” added Q. “I think it’s really important to have queer people in health care. You really feel that difference in care between those providers.”

Plane Jane joked, “Do you hear that gays? Stop doing the jerking off and start going to medical school!”

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Plane Jane confronts Q as she discusses being HIV positive on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race.’

MTV

Q is not the first RuPaul’s Drag Race the contestant comes out as HIV positive.

In the first season, fifth-place finisher Onga broke down on the runway after revealing her diagnosis. “I didn’t want to say it on national TV because my parents didn’t know,” she said. “You have to celebrate life and move on, and I’m moving on.”

Her words were celebrated by RuPaul, who called her an “inspiration” and a “survivor.”

Years later, in the sixth season of the series Untucked, Trinity K. Bonet disclosed her HIV positive status. “I was diagnosed in August 2012 and I have so much to live for,” she said. “I have so many goals and aspirations that I want to achieve in my life, so I’m not going to let an obstacle stand in my way. I wanted to come on this show and I wanted to be that voice for people who are afraid to talk about it.”

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For her part, Q said Friday that she has come a long way from the fear she initially felt.

“I’m here, I’m on Drag RaceI know I’m living my dreams,” she said. “I know I have a loving husband who really supports and loves me no matter what.”

RuPaul’s Drag Race airs Friday (8 p.m. ET) on MTV.

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Source: HIS Education