Stories of Pride: Jade Elektra is Unforgettable

Last week at the 2019 Toronto AIDS Vigil, local drag queen Jade Elektra, AKA HIV+ activist Alphonso King, Jr.,  took the stage to deliver a message. And it wasn’t that Jade would become the first drag performer to ever sing live at the event, it was the song she sang and the message she delivered.

She sang the Nat King Cole classic, “Unforgettable,” but made the tiniest of changes to the lyrics:

“Undetectable.”

Jade says the song, and the idea to sing it that night, started as a joke with her husband:

“I started singing it and decided to say ‘undetectable’ instead. It wasn’t until he insisted that I sing it for an upcoming show that I realized that the original lyrics worked on a different level with the word change.”

And after performing the song publicly once or twice, Jade was invited to sing at the annual AIDS Vigil, and even she was stunned by the reaction:

“Looking out over all those faces was amazing. And hearing their reaction to the first word was magical! My fear melted away and it was on to channeling Marilyn Monroe as much as possible. Because after all, I may be HIV positive, but Jade is a sexual being and unapologetic about it. I hadn’t decided what I was going to say in the instrumental break, so I just let what came to mind come out.”

And this is what she said during that break:

“You know, for people who are living with HIV, we finally have the science to back up what I kind of knew about a decade ago. That ‘undetectable’ means you are ‘untransmittable.’ And hopefully, this will help us fight the stigma associated with being positive.”

It’s no longer an instant death sentence; it’s no longer something to feel ashamed of; it’s a condition, a manageable condition; it’s not something to fear or hide. You can live openly and honestly, and love openly and honestly, and be a sexual being, openly and honestly.

And Jade is absolutely ‘unforgettable’ for delivering that message.

LGBTQ Nation