Arts & Entertainment
‘Real World: New Orleans’ star Danny Roberts reveals he’s HIV-positive
The former reality figure was diagnosed in 2011
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“Real World: New Orleans” star Danny Roberts has revealed he is HIV-positive.
Roberts, a native of Georgia, was one of the seven strangers picked to live in a house in New Orleans for the MTV series which aired in 2000. He was known for his relationship with a military officer named Paul Dill. During the season’s airing, MTV blurred Dill’s face to protect his identity as part of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Roberts opens up about his HIV diagnosis in 2011.
“The reason I want to share this story is that I spent so long battling and beating myself up for my own misconceptions and bigotry,” Roberts says. “It is difficult to admit the negative feelings you had about a set of people and state of being based on made-up stories.”
After waking up in a pool of blood one day, Roberts contacted his doctor who gave him the results of a recent blood test.
“My first reaction was shock. Then I was angry, then lots of denial… Those early years were very difficult and very lonely,” he says. “You don’t know whom to turn to have conversation and people don’t know what to say. It’s not something that people have experience with. There’s also the potential likelihood of massive judgments about what behaviors led to this and what kind of people this happens to.”
He also praised his “New Orleans” housemate Kelley Limp, who went on to marry “Party of Five” star Scott Wolfe, for her support.
“She’s my life sister,” Roberts says. “She was one of the first people I turned to and talked to. She has been strong and helped me through this.”
These days, Roberts lives in New York City and works as a digital design recruiter. He is also the father to his two-year-old adopted daughter.
“I had so many negative feelings I was forced to face,” Roberts says. “I’ve been on such a journey to overcome that. In a way, this has really been like my second coming out.”
Celebrity News
More than 1 million people attend Madonna concert in Rio
Free event took place on Copacabana Beach on Saturday
An estimated 1.6 million people on Saturday attended Madonna’s free concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.
The concert, which was the last one as part of Madonna’s Celebration Tour, included a tribute to people lost to AIDS.
Bob the Drag Queen introduced Madonna before the concert began. Pabllo Vittar, a Brazilian drag queen and singer, and Anitta, a bisexual pop star who was born in Rio’s Honório Gurgel neighborhood, also joined Madonna on stage.
Congresswoman Erika Hilton, a Black travesti and former sex worker, and Rio Municipal Councilwoman Mônica Benício, the widow of Marielle Franco, a bisexual Rio Municipal Councilwoman who was assassinated in 2018, are among those who attended the concert.
“Madonna showed that we fight important fights for the human rights of Black (people), young (people), women and LGBTQIA+ people, and against all injustice, discrimination, and violence,” said Associaçao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals), a Brazilian trans rights group known by the acronym ANTRA, on its X account. “What they call identitarianism’ is our subversion to the retrograde and conservative tackiness that plagues the country.”
The Associated Press reported the concert was Madonna’s biggest ever.
The DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL and Rainbow Families sponsored Gay Day at the Zoo on Sunday at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The Smithsonian observed International Family Equality Day with special exhibits and an event space.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering Gay Day at the Zoo for @WashBlade . Here at @NationalZooDC pic.twitter.com/LqgGNOOAiM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) May 5, 2024
Photos
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Annual fundraiser held for LGBTQ youth scholarship, mentorship organization
The Point Foundation held its annual Taste of Point fundraiser at Room & Board on May 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)