Welcome to the 9th Annual POZ Awards, spotlighting the best representatives of HIV and AIDS in media and culture.
The POZ editorial staff selects the nominees, but POZ readers choose the winners.
Eligible nominees were active or were presented, published or produced between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024.
BEST CELEBRITY ADVOCATE
Q
When drag artist Q came out as living with HIV on the 16th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, she had to deal with not only becoming public about her status, but also becoming a meme. In response to her disclosure, fellow queen Plane Jane said the four words that changed the internet: “Kudos for saying that.” Since her time on the show, Q has been open about what it has been like to live with HIV, but has also given back by making appearances at the Los Angeles LGBT Center as well as New York City’s AIDS Walk.
Madonna
In the fifth decade of her career, Madonna’s advocacy around HIV hasn’t stalled. At each of the stops on her 2024 Celebration Tour, a victory lap in the form of a concert, the pop icon created a sort of living musical memorial to the people she knew who died from an AIDS-related illness, as well as many whom she had never met. The singer worked the Instagram account @theAIDSMemorial to gather photos of many people lost to the virus. She also spoke at several stops about how personal the loss was to her. In doing so, she reminded us that one of the Great American Pop Songbooks of our time is also inextricably linked with the HIV epidemic.
Oprah Winfrey
After all these years, Oprah is still talking about HIV. The megastar and TV host took two opportunities this year to speak personally about the AIDS crisis, including a remembrance of AIDS activist Hydeia Broadbent, who died in February at 39 years old. Broadbent had first appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show at age 11 and, in a letter published on Oprah Daily, the Oscar-nominated actress wrote that Broadbent “loved, and she was loved.” Just a month later, while accepting an award from GLAAD, Winfrey spoke candidly about her brother’s death from an AIDS-related illness at only 29. “I wish he could have lived to witness these liberated times and to be here with me tonight,” she said.
Big Freedia
When attendees from around the world descended on New Orleans, Louisiana, for this year’s United States Conference on HIV/AIDS, they may not have known that they were in Big Freedia’s backyard. But they certainly did by the end. The Queen of Bounce, who has become emblematic of the Big Easy and one of its many signature musical styles, made several appearances throughout the conference and spoke about his efforts to make sure people throughout the state of Louisiana know their status. Freedia is also the ambassador for Bounce to Zero, a program aimed at lowering HIV transmissions and increasing people’s access to care in the city and its surrounding parishes.
