IRL

‘Wizard of Oz’ gets queered in campy new HIV positive campaign

Follow the undetectable viral load, Dorothy.

Photo of Mary Emily O'Hara

Mary Emily O'Hara

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What if the Wizard of Oz was an allegory for a newly HIV positive girl trying to find her way to health and happiness? That’s the question asked by The Institute of Many, an Australian peer-run social and advocacy group for people with HIV

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The organization wanted to celebrate reaching 1,000 members, making it Australia’s largest network for HIV positive people. The result? A campy social media campaign featuring a cast of HIV positive models dressed as updated, queered versions of Wizard of Oz characters.

The Wizard of Poz campaign features a bearded “hipster Dorothy,” a not-so-cowardly Lioness “in control of her sexuality,” and even a “dirty leather queen” as the Wicked Witch.

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Anti-stigma public campaigns like the Wizard of Poz, along with Poz magazine and other publications, serve to break down stereotypes around people living with HIV. In a majority of U.S. states, people living with HIV are criminalized under felony laws—often thrown into prison for having sex even if it’s while using a condom or while they have an undetectable viral load (which makes transmission highly unlikely).

But with advances in medicine, like the new self-injectable HIV antibody and managed PrEP regimens like Truvada, people with HIV can live long, happy lives—and have safe sexual relationships with uninfected partners.

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This isn’t The Wizard of Oz‘s first brush with allegory. In fact, some believe that the original story by L. Frank Baum was itself a political allegory for Depression-era economic issues across America. Now, it’s being used to show support to a discriminated-against populations.

There’s no place like homo, after all.

Photo via The Institute of Many

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