11 nationwide LGBTQ + and HIV / AIDS organizations are writing an open letter to DaBaby and offering alternatives for personal academic conferences

# Roommate, it’s been almost two weeks since DaBaby made highly controversial comments on the LGBTQ + community and HIV / AIDS – well, now it looks like representatives from both communities are reaching out to him publicly for clarification. In a recent open letter, nearly a dozen LGBTQ + and HIV / AIDS organizations have expressed an interest in hopefully meeting with DaBaby to let him know why his comments have been deemed hurtful and offensive.

@Variety reports, DaBaby may still be banned from various music festivals, but it appears that some of the most powerful advocacy organizations for the LGBTQ + and HIV / AIDS communities have stopped making fun of him – and have opened the door instead for education. Eleven national LGBTQ + and HIV / AIDS organizations have just published an open letter to DaBaby requesting a private meeting to discuss the facts about HIV / AIDS and hope that he will share the knowledge with his very large fan base Splits. The organizations are: GLAAD, Black AIDS Institute Arianna’s Center, The Normal Anomaly Initiative, Prevention Access Campaign, Relationship Unleashed, The 6:52 Project Foundation, and Gilead COMPASS Initiative leaders including Southern AIDS Coalition, Emory University, the University of Houston and from Wake Forest University.

A small part of the long open letter reads, “We heard your inaccurate and harmful comments on Rolling Loud and read your Instagram apology. However, at a time when HIV continues to disproportionately affect black Americans and queer and trans people with color, dialogue is vital. We need to address the misinformation expressed in your comments about HIV and the impact it has on various communities. “

You can read the full open letter to DaBaby below:

We, the undersigned, represent organizations that lead the fight against HIV and provide care and treatment for people living with HIV, especially black LGBTQ people in the southern United States.

We heard your inaccurate and harmful comments on Rolling Loud and read your Instagram apology. However, at a time when HIV continues to disproportionately affect black Americans and queer and trans people with color, dialogue is vital. We need to address the misinformation expressed in your comments about HIV and the impact it is having on various communities.

2021 marks the 40th year of the HIV / AIDS epidemic and the major obstacles to our work to end HIV are the heightened stigmas associated with anti-blackness, living with HIV, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ attitudes and stereotypes are all fueled by misinformation. It is fear and stigma that deter people, especially black Americans, from accessing HIV prevention or treatment that white Americans have and continue to have easier access to. We believe that now you have the opportunity not only to overcome this unfortunate incident, but to use your platform and celebrity so as not to cure any harm.

We believe anyone can be an HIV advocate by explaining: How there are drugs (PrEP) that can stop people taking one tablet a day from getting HIV, how routine treatment is for human transmission of the virus With HIV Prevents How People HIV Treatment Can Survive and Thrive While Living With It, and How Open and Empathetic Conversation Eliminates Stigma. You can be a powerful and influential voice, especially in your southern home where the needs of the black community are notoriously underrepresented in all public areas. We encourage you to share this information with your fans and followers and become a representative of truth and change.

Music artists in the past have paved the way to improve understanding of HIV and accelerate LGBTQ adoption. Several artists and platforms have spoken out against you. We appreciate their point of view, but we also invite them to take action and do their part to end HIV by supporting organizations like ours that advocate for black people, LGBTQ people and / or people living with HIV.

As mentioned in your last apology, education is important. Do we agree? The 2020 State of HIV Stigma Study by GLAAD and Gilead Science found that 90% of Americans believe “HIV is a stigma,” that “people judge people with HIV quickly,” and “people make assumptions when someone is tested for HIV “. There was a significant number of people (40%) who did not know that HIV could be treated. Almost 60% mistakenly believe that “it is important to be careful around people with HIV to avoid infection”.

As we reported earlier this week, DaBaby again apologized for his comments as his total number of canceled festival appearances rose to seven.

Would you like updates straight to your text inbox? Call us at 917-722-8057 or click here to join!