Snoop Dogg Joins HIV Awareness Panel As LGBTQ+ Apology Tour Continues

Snoop Dogg has appeared on a Mississippi university panel to discuss HIV awareness, extending his recent efforts to engage with the LGBTQ+ community following his Lightyear controversy.

via: Pink News

Snoop Dogg courted controversy in August when he criticised a same-sex kiss in Toy Story spin-off Lightyear. In a conversation on It’s Giving podcast, the “Gin and Juice” rapper said such inclusion left him “scared” to go to the movies.

In a bid to make amends, he teamed up with LGBTQ+ media monitoring organisation GLAAD to “send a powerful message to LGBTQ youth” on Spirit Day (16 October). The message comes through his new song “Love Is Love”, which features as part of his animated children’s series Doggyland.

Snoop Dogg is continuing his work with GLAAD and, as part of its “Generation Z and HIV: Human Issue. Southern Solution. An HBCU Tour,” he surprised students at Jackson State University.

The rapper commented under a video of him with students, leaving two hearts and a fist-bump emoji.

The event, which is focused on educating students on HIV prevention, saw the rapper join the discussion with with Darian Aaron, GLAAD’s director of local news for the US South.

Together they discussed LGBTQ+ representation in media and the impact of HIV within he music industry. Advocates from across Mississippi also shared their knowledge.

Aaron told WJTV: “HIV in Black communities is far from over, and Black people in the South, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or number of total partners, remain at disproportionate risk.”

Speaking about his collaboration with GLAAD, the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” performer perviously said: “At the end of the day, it’s all about love — that’s what we’re teachin’ the kids with ‘Love Is Love.’

“Partnering with GLAAD for Spirit Day just felt right, because spreading love and respect for everybody is what real gangstas do. We’re showin’ the next generation that kindness is cool, inclusion is powerful, and love always wins.”