Jai Rodriguez.Photo: Tibrina Hobson/Getty
ForJai Rodriguez, raising awareness aboutAIDSis personal.
Chatting with PEOPLE, the originalQueer Eyemember, 41, spoke about his work withAIDS Walk Los Angelesand the reason why he decided to advocate for more awareness regarding the disease: his aunt, who died of AIDS when he was 16.
“There was an instance when I took my aunt to the dentist and he put on four pairs of gloves in front of her, which was humiliating,” he tells PEOPLE. “There was another time where my mom, with the best of intentions, brought her pink sweatpants and a pink sweatshirt as appropriate church attire. My aunt began to cry. And she goes, ‘You’re treating me like a patient, not a person.'”
“The composite of all these memories is what fueled my performance as Angel,” he adds, referring to his role as the character who dies of an AIDS-related illness in the musical theater productionRent.
With his aunt in mind, Rodriguez started working with several philanthropic organizations focused on addressing HIV/AIDS awareness and raising money to help those living with the disease. For him, the AIDS Walk LA became one of his preferred philanthropies. (The walk went virtual last year due to thepandemic.)
“There’s still a stigma with communities of color. They’re not comfortable or willing to talk about sexuality,” he says, referring to the rising number of HIV-positive cases in the Latinx community. “It made me sick to my stomach that infection rates are going down on a national level, but they’re actually going up in certain communities.”
In fact, 27 percent of new diagnoses are among Latinx people, even though they make up 18 percent of the country’s population,according to the CDC. For Rodriguez, it’s about increasing awareness about the stigma, treatment and access to testing.
“Once you have that knowledge, I think it takes away the stigma of those who are living with HIV,” he adds. “So many in the generation before us lived with shame.”
Jai Rodriguez.JB Lacroix/Getty
Rodriguez is also working on a talk show-style series calledThe Social Bubblefeaturing the likes ofLove & Hip Hop: New York’s Tahiry Jose, comedian Mike Cannon, Julie Young and Garrett Vogel.
As his presence in media continues to be a beacon for representation in the gay, Latinx community, Rodriguez makes one thing clear: he wants the world to keep making positive progress on these issues.
“I don’t ever want to get back to a place where people are operating from fear when we have all the knowledge we need to live healthy and incredible lives,” he says.
source: people.com
