Snoop Dogg appears on HIV panel in latest LGBTQ+ allyship move after Lightyear controversy
The rapper joined students and campaigners at Jackson State University for GLAAD’s Generation Z and HIV: Human Issue
By Callum Wells
Snoop Dogg has appeared on a Mississippi university panel to discuss HIV awareness, extending his recent efforts to engage with the LGBTQ+ community following his Lightyear controversy.
The rapper joined students and campaigners at Jackson State University for GLAAD’s Generation Z and HIV: Human Issue. Southern Solution. An HBCU Tour – an event series focused on tackling HIV stigma and increasing understanding of prevention across the southern United States.
Dogg took part in a conversation with Darian Aaron, GLAAD’s director of local news for the US South, where they explored the intersection of music, media, and HIV representation. Local advocates also contributed insights about the challenges facing Black communities in the region.
The appearance marks another step in Dogg’s ongoing collaboration with GLAAD
Aaron told WJTV: “HIV in Black communities is far from over, and Black people in the South, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or number of total partners, remain at disproportionate risk.”
Footage from the event shared online showed the rapper interacting with students. Under one post, he responded with two hearts and a fist-bump emoji. The appearance marks another step in Dogg’s ongoing collaboration with GLAAD, which began after his remarks about a same-sex kiss in Lightyear drew backlash in August.
During an episode of the It’s Giving podcast, he said such scenes made him “scared” to go to the movies.
Dogg recalled to host Sarah Fontenot that his grandson had asked him: “Papa Snoop? How she have a baby with a woman? She a woman!” The question left the rapper caught off guard. “Oh s**t. I didn’t come here for this s**t. I just came to watch the goddamn movie,” he remembered thinking.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about love – that’s what we’re teachin’ the kids with ‘Love Is Love'” – Dogg on new song
Changing the subject, the musician said to the child: “Hey man, watch the movie.” But the boy pressed: “Uh uh. They just said, she and she had a baby. They’re both women. How did she have a baby.”
Reflecting on the situation, Dogg admitted he felt unprepared, saying: “It’s like, I’m scared to go to the movies now. Y’all throwing me in the middle of s**t that I don’t have an answer for, it threw me for a loop. I’m like, ‘What part of the movie was this?’ These are kids. We have to show that at this age?”
Weeks later, he joined forces with GLAAD on Spirit Day (16 October) to “send a powerful message to LGBTQ youth”, releasing a new song titled Love Is Love from his animated children’s series Doggyland.
Speaking at the time, the Drop It Like It’s Hot hitmaker said: “At the end of the day, it’s all about love – that’s what we’re teachin’ the kids with ‘Love Is Love.’
“Partnering with GLAAD for Spirit Day just felt right, because spreading love and respect for everybody is what real gangstas do. We’re showin’ the next generation that kindness is cool, inclusion is powerful, and love always wins.”