Drag queen and activist Madame Bonjour JohnJ has an important weekend ahead of them. They¡¯re one of the main coordinators of a float aimed at fighting the social stigma and lack of education surrounding HIV and AIDS, and that float will be a part of a parade on Sunday that marks the triumphant post-pandemic return of .
¡°The message of #UpdateHIV is, ¡®Let¡¯s work together to end the AIDS epidemic. Reduce discrimination to zero, AIDS diagnoses to zero, new infections to zero,¡¯¡± says JohnJ, 59, who publicly goes by their drag moniker and uses they/them pronouns. ¡°Now, I¡¯m working with designers to visualize the float¡¯s main theme, make flags and placards, and choose who will ride it. We¡¯ll set it all up and decorate it the day before the parade. For the first time, we¡¯re having HIV-positive members walk in the front row, carrying a ¡®We Are Positive¡¯ flag. I am deeply moved by our mission.¡±
Tokyo¡¯s annual Rainbow Pride ¡ª one of the largest LGBTQ pride festivals in Asia ¡ª is bouncing back in full following a three-year hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year saw a somewhat muted return to an in-person celebration, with a cap on the number of participants and, of course, international borders closed. This year, with Japan¡¯s borders reopened and over 1.5 million tourists flooding in from overseas, organizers are expecting a larger Pride festival than ever before.
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