LATINX SERIES
HIV Crisis on the Texas-Mexico Border
GLAAD Nominated
Role: Assistant Editor
Producers: Lara Heintz
DP: Luisa Conlon
Editor: Max Tiberi
Brownsville, Texas, a border town whose population is 90 percent Latino, is in the throes of a devastating HIV epidemic. Faced with a weak sex education program, stigma against homosexuality, and a low health literacy level, the city’s LGBTQ+ community is grappling with how to address the crisis. But a group of Latinx drag queens is hoping to change that, throwing regular “Drag Out HIV” balls to raise awareness about the virus in an accessible, nontraditional way. It's a critical resource for the city's Latinx population—a genderless word used to describe anyone in the Latino community who feels they don't fit into one identity. On the premiere of ‘LATIN-X,’ we went to Brownsville for a firsthand look at how the queens behind Drag Out HIV are taking on the crisis, and talk with local people there who are living with the virus.