Tag: Dragking

RISE in Rio

hivstigmafighter

Hello lovely people, earlier this week I was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at AIDS 2026 for less than a week but honestly it felt much longer. From the pre-conference to my final moments, I showed up as HIV Stigmafighter and Eric the Dragking. Rio embraced both sides of my activism.

The Conference

AIDS conferences are always overflowing with sessions, many happening at the same time. I have to pick and choose and hope to land where my voice matters most.

So, I attended some sessions on HIV prevention and access to long acting PrEP. It was painful to hear that after developing injectable PrEP, access is still blocked by bureaucracy and inequality. The shock was real when I learned that Brazil is excluded from generic PrEP enrolment. At a conference hosted in Brazil! This decision fueled anger and protests. It reminded me that policy decisions are still made far away from people who need the medication most.

I joined two sessions focused on women living with HIV. For once, the spotlight was on success and progress. It was powerful to see women celebrated for leadership and resilience. When treatment works, we rise and we bring our communities with us.

In EATG’s Silver Zone, my sisters from The Well Project talked about HIV and menopause. This topic is often avoided by healthcare providers. Women shared experiences that echoed mine. It was healing and necessary. It was also rewarding to finally meet familiar faces I only knew from online meetings. This is what AIDS 2026 is about, connecting with the global HIV community.

The good thing about the location is that I was able to meet activists from Brazil, Haiti, Puerto Rico and many other places we usually do not see at events in for example Europe. In the Global Village, we talked about stigma, access, and equity. I saw the same struggles repeated across borders. Stigma, criminalisation and a lack to equitable health services. So tell me, how are we supposed to end HIV and AIDS in a world that criminalises sex workers, same sex relationships and LGBTQIA+ lives?

There were also again beautiful art expositions throughout the conference space. You know what I say about art. It can carry messages where words failed. I admired paintings, handmade pieces, installations, and shows. The message was clear. Love us. Support us. Empower us.

So many stories and artistic messages from our community! Everyone who shared a story from their local HIV communities received a HIV Stigmafighter pin and wore it with pride. Look at these pictures to get a feel of AIDS2026.

Eric the Dragking at the global village

Opening the Global Village ceremony as Eric the Dragking was unforgettable. I have attended AIDS conferences since 2018, and this was the first time a drag king performed on that stage. So, Eric the Dragking did their best to dance HIV stigma away on the stage. We felt proud. We felt seen.

Eric collaborated with a Brazilian artivist and Hero of Hope Adriana Bertina. She crafted a massive beautiful red ribbon made of condoms, HIV test kits and PrEP medication especially for Eric. Revealing it on stage was such an honour. This was a true fusion of art, activism and global HIV community power.

Eric also co-hosted Café Cazuza, an affiliated event to AIDS 2026, where global artivists from places as far as India, Uganda, Burundi and Brazil came together to discuss what truly matters and celebrate our global HIV community. Eric helped to craft messages demanding Cure Now, PrEP access for Black women in Brazil and equity for all. Eric also gave a performance for the audience. The event was beautiful and a good reminder of the power of dragtivism.

Look at these wonderful pictures. People at AIDS 2026 loved Eric. We will be back in two years!

If RISE is about a funding crisis, what was there before?

Now onto a serious topic… RISE was presented as a way to overcome the global funding crisis through community leadership and scientific innovation.

But while listening, watching and feeling the grassroots energy, I kept thinking: We have always been the ones rising, we have always been the innovators, we have always been the leaders.

And we have always done this with limited financing and constant precarity, while establishment actors continue to receive the bulk of the funding. So when RISE talks about overcoming the funding crisis, I cannot help but ask: What crisis, and whose crisis is it? Because grassroots actors hardly access this funding in the first place.

If the money has been flowing mostly to establishment organisations while grassroots groups remain unseen, and if we are still expected to deliver impact without investment, then what exactly has changed for us? I am not cynical, I am just being clear. And clarity is the beginning of accountability.

In the end, Rio reminded me that ultimately the HIV response is powered by people from the many local HIV communities who refuse to disappear. AIDS 2026 is a celebration of our globally connected HIV community. It is a moment where we rise with unity and pride to ensure no one is left behind.

Peace,

Eric & Eliane

Rainbow June

hivstigmafighter

My lovely people, how many of you see June as the Rainbow month? Every June, no matter where I am, I celebrate Pride Month with the queer community. For many, it’s the one time of year when the sun shines directly on them. It is a moment of visibility, joy, and freedom. In June I also hold in my heart those communities where Pride cannot be celebrated openly, where rainbow flags remain hidden, and where people dream of a day they can dance, speak their truth, and live without fear of persecution.

This June, I am fortunate to be in South Korea. Two years ago, I connected with local communities here, and returning now feels like being welcomed home. The celebrations are known as the “Seoul Queer Culture Festival”, but the spirit is the same: Pride. 

For me, Pride month began with a vibrant show led by Korea’s pioneering drag artist, Hurricane Kimchi. Through music and performance, artists reminded us of the importance of being yourself and loving who you are. Though the official name is “Queer Culture Festival,” Kimchi joyfully declared, “Happy Pride!” A reminder that June is our rainbow month everywhere.

On Saturday, June 13, more than 50,000 people attended the Parade through Seoul. Flags waved, smiles shone, and energy filled the streets. I joined the march with my activist spirit alive, wearing a shirt that read “No Stigma” and sharing my messages on “U=U” and “PrEP Protects”. Advocacy for HIV prevention and stigma reduction must always be part of Pride, because knowing these truths means health and dignity. 

I visited many festival booths where people could write down wishes to be prayed for or have pictures taken within human-sized photo frames with positive messages. My core message was simple as always: a world free of stigma, where people living with HIV can express themselves without fear. One message I saw read: “HIV+ You don’t need to give up on your dream.” That resonated deeply. Activism is about expressing yourself without fear and building dream trees together. 

Not everything was joyful. Along the Pride route there were also religious protesters who held signs saying for example “Homosexuality go to hell” and “Kill all sinners”. As a religious person myself, I reject this distortion of faith. Jesus taught us to love our neighbours, without conditions of gender or race. To use God’s name to harm LGBTQIA+ people is the greatest lie. If God is displeased, let God act. Not humans who twist scripture into weapons.

I believe in God as the father of humanity, and I believe in Ubuntu: “I am because we are.” That’s why I continue to connect with communities needing support. On June 29, Korea marks “Sex Workers Day”, co-organized by groups like Scarlet Chacha and X Youth Sex Labor, and Solidarity Braza. Eric the Dragking is invited to perform, showing how dragtivism amplifies messages about HIV, AIDS, and to remind ourselves that Sex work is work. Let us continue our fight for dignity!

My final days in Korea will be spent with women living with HIV. Many face stigma in prenatal and postnatal care, and isolation prevents peer support. We are exploring ways to help support the building of digital peer networks and eventually peer counseling in hospitals. Strong, empowered women can transform healthcare systems from within. 

My Pride message for this month is: To every queer person, when they pray for you, claiming you are “sick” because of who you are, know this – they are wasting their time. The only healing you need is self-love. Accept yourself, embrace yourself, and shine so brightly that your rainbow beauty blinds ignorance.

Happy Pride,

Peace,

Eliane

I am strong!

I am strong!

hivstigmafighter

My lovely people, have you ever witnessed the moment a dreamer finally becomes a doer? That is what my story of today is about.

Since childhood, I expressed myself through every art form I could find. By dancing the traditional Umuyebe (a dance intended for Burundian men), drumming in a boys’ groups, or any other way. People told me I was “crazy”, doing things meant only for boys. But my inner voice told me, “Be happy, Eric”. I just could not see any barrier when it came to art!

Thanks to my parents and my school, I was allowed to be myself. So, every time Eliane performed, Eric felt alive too. Even as a child, I knew one day I would show Eric to the world.

When I attended Lycée Étoiles des Montagnes in Jenda village, I joined theatre and played a male role, a chef cook, and I shined! Later, while working at Musée Vivant in 2000, I met a man selling an Indonongo instrument I asked him to teach me to play it. I asked myself: Why don’t girls play this instrument? I knew many female artists, but they only sang, none of them played a traditional instrument like the drums or Indonongo.

When I started performing my Indonongo, compliments were few and insults were many. But the more people tried to stop me, the more determined I became. Eventually, they stopped talking, and I kept playing. I became the first Burundian woman known for performing the cowhorn instrument.

When I moved to the Netherlands, I became known as an African woman teaching African culture. I played mothers on stage, performed Indonongo, and carried my heritage with pride.

But my dream did not end there. As a dreamer and doer, I wanted to keep my promise to Eric and show him to the world. Not just for fun, but with purpose. I wanted Eric to help me fight HIV stigma, break taboos, and raise awareness.

In the beginning Eric was making a lot of noise, stomping HIV stigma away, and then I realised that he could do so much more. So I asked myself, “What if I played the Indonongo as Eric?”, “What if I sang too?”. And wouldn’t it be nice to be the first Burundian Drag King living openly with HIV and performing a traditional cowhorn instrument? Really, how many artists are out there who combine all these talents and share this with the world? Allow me to brag, I worked hard for it!

And that is who I became. Unique, unstoppable, and proud.

Thanks to Girls Won’t Be Girls / Boys Won’t Be Boys, I now tour theatres in the Netherlands, sharing my story and my culture.

Performing as Eric feels like bringing my entire life on stage. My childhood memories, my parents’ encouragement, the journey of Eliane and Eric growing together. I share the hardship, my HIV diagnosis, the moments of darkness, the joy of sharing my status, and the victory of choosing life.

When I ask the audience at my show to repeat…

I am strong like Eric!

I am lovely like Eric!

I embrace who I am!

I never give up!

…it is because someone in that room is fighting their own battle, just like Eric did. Those words are for them.

Allow me, with all my heart, to offer my deepest thanks to Rikkert van Huisstede, Artistic Director of Boys Won’t Be Boys, for believing in my story and recognising its impact. And to the entire BWBB and GWBG community, thank you for your support. Together, we break stereotypes and taboos.

And to all these girls with beautiful dreams in my home village of Murira, Burundi, and beyond I want to tell you that the world is changing. You no longer have to wait for men to decide what you can or cannot do. Look around, find your role model, your inspiration. They will show you what is possible. They make your dreams feel real. And if you can dream it, you can do it.

My lovely community, our work is not done.

We are strong, smart, and resilient.

We will keep showing the world our worth.

Peace,

Eliane (Eric)