AIDS Free Pittsburgh Presents Too Hot for July, its Sixth Annual HIV Awareness and Testing Event

On Thursday May 30, 2024, AIDS Free Pittsburgh (AFP), True T Pgh, and partners will host its sixth annual HIV awareness and testing event, Too Hot For July (TH4J) at Allegheny Commons East Park from 4-10p.m. The event will feature trailblazer and Tony Award winner Alex Newell, DJ sets and performances from local artists, free and confidential HIV/STI testing, a health fair and marketplace, ballroom-inspired battles, and more.

Free and open to the public, the biomedical awareness event partners will be offering testing and education, including Allegheny Health Network Positive Health Clinic, who will be offering HIV, STI, and Hepatitis C testing; Allies for Health and Wellbeing with HIV, STI, and Hepatitis C testing; Metro Community Health Center with HIV, STI, and Hepatitis C testing; and Macedonia FACE with HIV testing. The Allegheny County Health Department will be offering Monkeypox vaccines and Hepatitis C testing as well.

For many community and collaborative members, Too Hot for July continues to be a special space to gather, celebrate, and support each other. AFP and partners recognize that community building and sharing joy through activities like sharing food and dancing together are valuable and essential parts of any movement, including efforts to end the HIV epidemic.

Educating the public about HIV can be difficult due to lingering stigma and disparities in access to prevention tools and healthcare. Thanks to improved treatment, people with HIV can live long, healthy lives. Plus, powerful prevention tools — including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — can practically eliminate transmission. Despite these successes, new HIV infections still occur at a steady annual rate and far too many people in Allegheny County still are not benefiting from HIV prevention and care.

In Allegheny County, racial and gender disparities continue to persist. In 2022, Black individuals had an incidence rate of HIV diagnoses 10 times higher than White individuals. Of new HIV diagnoses in 2022, 10 diagnoses, or 14%, were concurrent diagnoses of HIV and AIDS within 90 days. Though this rate is lower than in previous years, these late diagnoses represent multiple missed opportunities to diagnose and treat HIV infection and to prevent transmission. Transgender people, particularly transgender women of color, are heavily affected by HIV due to societal stigma and barriers to care. AFP is on a mission to improve social determinants of health and to celebrate the advancements in HIV prevention and care that can end the HIV epidemic for all communities impacted.

The featured performer at this year's event is Alex Newell will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. First garnering attention on the screen in Fox's critically acclaimed series Glee as a transgender student, Wade "Unique" Adams. Breaking barriers and challenging gender norms at a time when the conversation around gender identity was not widely accepted, Alex has remained one of the leaders in the quest for equality. 2023 TIME Magazine Breakthrough of the Year Newell made history in 2023 as the first nonbinary-identifying actor to receive a Tony nomination for "Best Featured Actor" for their role as "Lulu" in Broadway's Shucked. Newell has received several award nominations including Critic's Choice, Gold Derby, Screen Actors Guild, and Hollywood Critics Association. While part of the cast of "Once on This Island" Newell earned a Grammy nomination for "Best Musical Theater Album" and won a Tony for "Best Revival of a Musical."