MINNEAPOLIS — Saturday morning, hundreds of people showed up to the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis to brave winter temperatures in their skivvies-- all for a good cause.
The Red Undie Run is an annual event held in honor of World AIDS Day, on Dec. 1.
The frigid one-mile run across the bridge aims to bring awareness to the work of the Aliveness Project, a local organization that offers support for people living with or at risk of HIV. The run hopes to draw attention to "the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, HIV testing and screenings for other sexually transmitted infections, HIV medical care, prevention services and more."
The disease is still impacting many Minnesotans' lives. This week, for the first time in almost 40 years, the Minnesota Department of Health declared an outbreak of HIV across the Twin Cities and in Duluth.
Dylan Boyer, the communications and event manager with the Aliveness Project, said the Red Undie Run wants to bring attention to those outbreaks.
"We do have really good biomedical sciences where people living with HIV can live long, healthy lives, but there is still so much stigma associated with the disease," Boyer said. "So that's why we're here today. We're here to shut that stigma, show the HIV community that we love them and that we're here for them, and that we really do come together as a united community."
MDH recommends that anyone between 13 and 64 years old get tested for HIV at least one time, unless they are sexually active or share syringes in which they recommend being tested annually.
“These are the first defined outbreaks in Minnesota since the epidemic began in the 1980s, and primarily involve people who inject drugs and people experiencing unstable housing, as well as people with newly diagnosed HIV in the Duluth region," said Christine Jones, manager of STD/HIV/TB programs at the MDH, in a press release Tuesday. "We know that when we equip people with good information about testing and treatment in a culturally appropriate way, it can make a difference. It is critical that everyone, especially health care providers, use accurate information about HIV and actively address misinformation. Ending HIV in our state and the world means listening, collaborating, and sharing the science.”
According to a press release, participants in the Red Undies Run included people "ages 18 to 88" from across the state who are HIV-negative or living with HIV, as well as LGBTQ+ people and allies.
One participant, a drag queen who goes by The Other Jeannie, said even though World AIDS Day has a serious message, honoring it through events like the Red Undie Run also make it a "celebration."
"It's important for even our most somber of topics to still have a little bit of celebration in them," she said. "Because yes, there is death and illness surrounding it, but it's important for us to end the stigma and also be able to say that we're here and we matter and we're also still able to embody joy."