For National Coming Out Day 2024, we wanted to create powerful content to recognize the bravery it takes for individuals to embrace their true selves.
Coming out is a deeply personal journey, often filled with a mix of emotions—fear, excitement, and vulnerability. For many LGBTQ+ individuals, revealing their authentic selves to loved ones and society is a powerful step toward living freely. Yet, stigma and discrimination remain significant barriers, particularly in accessing HIV prevention, testing, and treatment.
Visibility is transformative. It not only empowers individuals but promotes understanding, acceptance, and lasting change in the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals and our collective efforts to tackle HIV.
That’s why we engaged Billy Porter, an LGBTQ+ individual living with HIV and long-time supporter of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, to join us in Atlanta to visit our grantee, Vision Community Foundation. The Foundation is working with VCF to implement training for faith leaders to reduce HIV stigma, particularly in Black, Southern faith-based communities.
Why is this so important? Despite making up only 38% of the U.S. population, the South accounts for over half of new HIV transmissions, making it one of the regions most impacted by the HIV epidemic. As trusted voices in their communities, faith leaders play a crucial role in changing this narrative.
With Billy’s powerful voice and the transformative efforts of the Vision Community Foundation, we created a film that resonates with the LGBTQ+ community, reminding them they are not alone. We also set out to launch the film on an impactful awareness Day like National Coming Out Day in a top-tier news publication reaching the Black community.
National Coming Out Day is a powerful reminder that visibility is not just about identity—it’s about survival. When LGBTQ+ individuals are able to live openly, they are more likely to access healthcare, get tested for HIV, and take advantage of preventative measures like PrEP. They are also more likely to form supportive networks that promote health and well-being.
For National Coming Out Day, we wanted to create a film that embodied the magnitude of coming out but one which also champions the significance and positive impact of visibility. Visibility breaks down the walls of shame and silence that because of dated stigma, surround both LGBTQ+ identities and HIV. It encourages dialogue, challenges misconceptions, and creates a culture of acceptance where everyone can thrive.
We chose to spotlight Vision Community Foundation in Atlanta, one of many grantees we are working with in the U.S. South to ensure that people have safe and supportive spaces where they can access information on HIV prevention and care.
Faith leaders hold a significant influence in the U.S. South, and by equipping them with the tools to combat HIV stigma, we are fostering environments where individuals can seek HIV testing, prevention, and treatment without fear of judgment. The Foundation proudly funds Vision Community Foundation’s “Prevention from the Pulpit” initiative, which partners with faith leaders to provide HIV training led by Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen III at The Vision Cathedral of Atlanta.
Training faith leaders to create safe, inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals is key to breaking down barriers that have long prevented people from accessing lifesaving resources. This is especially important in the mission to end new HIV cases, as stigma continues to be one of the largest obstacles to testing and care.
Bringing a powerful voice like Billy Porter along with us to visit Vision Community Foundation and The Vision Cathedral of Atlanta was perfect opportunity to organically speak about faith, community and the power of healing. This trip to Atlanta superseded our expectations, and Billy’s presence and conversations with the staff and beneficiaries were hugely impactful and emotional, resulting in the production of our film for National Coming Out Day.
To release the film on National Coming Out Day, we did not want to feature it just on the Foundation’s channels but in a top-tier news source reaching both the LGBTQ+ and Black communities. We invited Essence to join the trip in Atlanta, an outlet which cater to Black female audiences, as Billy’s social media following predominantly comprises Black women. Given that Black women accounted for approximately 60% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the US in 2021, this presented a strategic opportunity to connect with this audience using the Foundation’s compassionate messaging.
The film was shared in a broader story by Essence and across our social media channels, as well as a blog post for National Coming Out Day. The film was also a collaboration post with Billy Porter, garnering an outpouring of love and positivity in the comments on this profoundly significant awareness day.
The video had over 200,000 views with a watch time over nine days, reaching almost 160,000 accounts on Instagram – 92.4% of which were non-followers. The Instagram collaboration garnered positivity and love from our online communities. Below are a few comments from the collaboration with Billy Porter:
The film and broader story about Billy’s visit for Coming Out Day was featured in Essence, which boasts an audience of 1.3M UVM skewing African American female.
