DaBaby

Kirk Myers, long-time HIV prevention advocate and head of Dallas Southern Pride, on Tuesday invited popular hip-hop artist DaBaby to tour Abounding Prosperity Inc., the grassroots prevention and treatment center he runs in the heart of South Dallas, focusing on Black LGBTQ people and the community at large.

Myers’ invitation comes after DaBaby recently unleashed a string of homophobic remarks and insensitive comments about people living with HIV and members of the LGBTQ community while on stage during his performance last month at the Rolling Loud music festival in Miami.

DaBaby at first stood by his comments in the face of criticism. But after the backlash continue to grow, and after he was dropped from the Lollapalooza lineup and by the clothing brand BooHooMan, he issued an apology earlier this week.

In a post to his Instagram account, DaBaby wrote, “I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made. Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/AIDS, and I know education on this is important.”

The rapper thanked the “many people who came to me with kindness, who reached out to me privately to offer wisdom, education and resources. That’s what I needed, and it was received.”

But at the same time, he criticized those who publicly denounced his comments: “Social media moves so fast that people want to demolish you before you even have the opportunity to grow, educate and learn from your mistakes. As a man who has had to make his own way from very difficult circumstances, having people I know publicly working against me — knowing that what I needed was education on these topics and guidance — has been challenging.”

Education and guidance are exactly what Myers and the staff at Abounding Prosperity Inc. are offering.

“APInc has worked tirelessly for nearly two decades to address health and other disparities among Black LGBTQ men and women and the greater community,” according to a press release from APInc inviting the rapper to tour their facilities. “DaBaby’s offensive comments further highlight the enormous task ahead for those of us on the front lines of this life-or-death fight.

“As such, APInc is extending this public invitation for DaBaby to be an ally with us as we work to eradicate HIV and other systemic issues plaguing our communities.”

Myers, himself a gay man living with HIV, said, “While others seek to cancel DaBaby, we feel this is the perfect opportunity to build a bridge. We want to use this moment to educate him about the adverse impact of HIV misinformation and the harmful stereotypes he promoted of Black LGBTQ folks, many of whom are his fans.

“We also must stress HIV no longer is a death sentence. thanks to testing, prevention, and treatment,” Myers added.

According to the most recent statistics (from 2019) on HIV from the Centers for Disease Control

  • There are currently 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with HIV.
  • One in seven people living with HIV are unaware they have the virus.
  • Heterosexuals make up 23 percent of all HIV cases in the nation.
  • In DaBaby’s home state of North Carolina, 35,457 people are living with HIV.
  • Black people account for a higher proportion of new HIV diagnoses compared to other races/ethnicities.
  • Black people represent 13 percent of the U.S. population but accounted for 42 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S.

The APInc press release continues, “In addition to being dangerous, the stigmatizing words used by DaBaby perpetuate false narratives that have made it difficult in past to book hip-hop artists for Dallas Southern Pride events. That began to change this year when rap superstar Rick Ross performed for thousands of Black LGBTQ fans at DSP’s Juneteenth Black gay Pride celebration.

“Appearances over the years by the likes of Ross, Cardi B, Tank, Lil’ Kim, Beat King, Erykah Badu and others as part of our Testing for Tickets program allowed us to test thousands of people for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and refer many for treatment and counseling. This is how we stop the spread.

“We do not intend to allow ignorance and homophobic rhetoric to dismantle all of the hard work we have done to move us on a better path. We hope DaBaby will accept our offer and make amends through his actions and not just press releases. Lives are depending on it.”

— Tammye Nash