LIL NAS X MAKES A STATEMENT

Lil Nas X’s performance of “Industry Baby” and “MONTERO (Call Me by Your Name)” during Sunday’s VMAs received cheers for highlighting awareness and support for people living with HIV.

He donned the number 433,816 in red on his wardrobe, representing the number of people living with HIV in the South as of 2015.

"When public figures like Lil Nas X—particularly those from the U.S. South—use their platforms to communicate HIV facts, it encourages a new generation to join this fight to end this epidemic once and for all," said Dafina Ward, Executive Director of the Southern AIDS Coalition, a Gilead COMPASS Initiative Coordinating Center.

“Lil Nas X is the perfect artist to engage a national conversation about the role that faith communities can play in challenging long standing norms about the rejection of being LGBTQ as a sin. His music calls us to do the work,” said Dr. Allison Mathews, Executive Director, Wake Forest Divinity Faith Coordinating Center.

“Lil Nas X continues to make music and LGBTQ history, this time by using the iconic VMAs stage to highlight HIV in the U.S. South, where HIV rates and HIV stigma continues to impact our community despite advances in prevention and the fact that people with HIV today lead long, healthy lives and, when on proper medication, cannot transmit the virus,” said DaShawn Usher, Associate Director, Communities of Color of GLAAD.

On his new album, coming out Friday, each song is associated with a charity or group that fans can donate to, including 13 HIV organizations that are part of the Gilead COMPASS Initiative.

my jaw? on the FLOOR. @LilNasX just KILLED it with @JackHarlow 🔥 #VMAs pic.twitter.com/Z54jXXP2E2

— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 13, 2021