Kareem Davis, member of Oxygen's The Prancing Elites, spoke exclusively with So POPular! host Janet Mock on May 29, 2015, to discuss the recent episode that revealed he is HIV positive.
Davis, who had actually not seen the episode, told Mock it was a “sigh of relief” to discover his diagnosis. “I had wondered for so long, like, what’s going on with me—Please tell me I don’t have cancer because the doctor told me I had to be tested for stomach cancer,” he said.
“I did, which can probably can tell in the show that I slipped into a bit of depression,” he added. “But luckily I’m out of it and I’m able to sit here with you and talk about it because if you would have pulled me back, like, seven months like a month before I chose to go with this process, I wasn’t even well enough to look you straight in your eye. So, I think just, if anybody wants to know, I’m doing completely fine.”
JANET MOCK, HOST: I am beyond honored to welcome to So POPular! in an exclusive interview Kareem Davis of "The Prancing Elites Project." Thank you for being here.
DAVIS: Thank you for having me. That was actually my first time seeing it I think because I didn’t watch the episode, so it’s…
MOCK: I’m sorry, I hope that was okay.
DAVIS: It’s okay, I just was like – I’ve been anxious to see a small clip of it because of the fact that I’ve been like, I don’t know, that wasn’t, like, the easiest time for me, so watching the episode may have caused me to revisit that not so good time.
MOCK: It’s incredibly courageous of your. I just want to applaud you, first off, for being so open about a part of your life story that is so heavily stigmatized. And what pushed you to share that on the show?
DAVIS: Well, what exactly, I don’t know. I think it was definitely a process and, you know, when we’re put in this position on this platform people might come out and want to speculate about certain things going on with you, especially when it’s documented that I was having issues. So, I figure, okay, if I’m going to have this out there, I want to be the one to put out there first hand and I’m going to put it out there in the most honest way. That way there won’t be any, oh, girl, this is what really happened.
No, this is what actually it is. And I know there’s a bad stigma that comes with being HIV positive, so that’s one thing I wanted to, like, clear right away, like, no. Before you even go to thinking this is the type of person I am, first let me show you who Kareem is, and then we’ll get to that part.
MOCK: I thought it was so smart of you, too, and wise to also control your narrative in this space and to also, you know, I know this may have – this obviously happened months ago where you open up to the Elites about what’s going on with you, but what – you know the response from them was so emotional and also so supportive.
What has the public response been since it aired on Wednesday?
DAVIS: The public response, it’s like – when "Prance Elites Project" premiered, it was like, bam, you’re famous, bam, you’re famous, bam, you’re famous. And that lasted for a week. It’s like that happened all over again and it’s like I’m no longer just a Prancing Elite, I’m like a soldier. And I’m no longer famous for being the guy in the leotard, I’m famous for being brave, for being honest, being true to who I actually am and showing people that I want to live in my truth and no ones going to dictate how I’m going to live over some crazy stigma. Nobody is going to dictate how I live due to this crazy stigma.
So, that in turn is like, I don’t want people to feel like they should be afraid of anything. I feel like I want people to feel like make sure there’s no (inaudible) to HIV. There are, like, a million other things that are way worse that people don’t even know about.
Me doing this is, like, okay, just stay up on yourself, be conscious of your health. Don’t just let days go by. I know it’s an old fashioned saying what you don’t know won’t hurt you, but what you don’t know might actually kill you, which is, like, what lead me to even keep exploring and go get tested for this because I was one of those people who got regularly tested. And time went by and I still feel like something wasn’t right so I went and got tested again.
Luckily it was this opposed to what I was being for which, like, cancer and way deeper illnesses. When I was informed of, you know, that I tested positive, it was more so a sigh of relief because I had wondered for so long, like, what’s going on with me? What’s going on with me? Please tell me I don’t have cancer because the doctor told me I had to be tested for stomach cancer. That was like, that would be something I don’t even know how to deal it.
I can’t say that I never really broke down and cried about it. I did, which can probably can tell in the show that I slipped into a bit of depression. But luckily I’m out of it and I’m able to sit here with you and talk about it because if you would have pulled me back, like, seven months like a month before I chose to go with this process, I wasn’t even well enough to look you straight in your eye. So, I think just, if anybody wants to know, I’m doing completely fine.
MOCK: Well, you are a soldier and so that’s why you’ve also not only shared your story, but you’re partnered with the National Minority AIDS Council as well to get out there and, I guess, fight the stigma of those who are living with HIV.
What is your goal now? What do you see happening for you going forward now as a public figure?
DAVIS: As a public figure.
MOCK: As someone who’s public and open about…
DAVIS: I think – I used to be very, very – well, I am very, very shy.
MOCK: Can’t tell in those leotards.
DAVIS: Right? I am naturally a very shy person, and there are a lot of things that I – I was just having this conversation with the hair – my hair stylist and the makeup artist in the room, right, getting ready for this. And we were talking about sometimes you count yourself out very easily when you – let me just hide (ph) and I do count myself out, so I was like, am I really brave? Am I really courageous? Am I really all these things people are telling me? Because me telling that story is what I want to make other people be, people who are afraid, people who – you know sometimes (inaudible) I want them to be able to stand up and live in their truth regardless of how they feel like they may be perceived for it.
MOCK: But because you do that, because you have the courage and the bravery to live and stand in your truth, you will inspire a whole generation of other young people, other LGBT young people who may be grappling with this or may be scared of this to actually stand up and tell their stories. What do you – what would you want to tell them?
DAVIS: Well first of all, I wouldn’t want to just tell the LGBT community. I would want to tell as many people I could reach. This is not just a LGBT thing. This is the world, this is – do you know what I’m saying?
I would want to tell them that no matter what you’re diagnosed with, whether it be HIV, whether it be Diabetes, whether it be something as simple as cirrhosis, there is life after that. There are three parts to this that I have honestly come to realize. You have your part where you hurt. You have your part where you realize what’s hurting and you heal. And then you have the part where you live after all of that. And yes, it comes in still (ph), some peoples’ process is a lot longer, but there is life after your diagnosis with anything. There’s life after that.