(Black PR Wire) The liberal arts building on the campus of Jackson State University (JSU)  in Jackson, MS, will never be the same following the surprise celebrity guest appearance of cultural icon Snoop Dogg, in town for the launch of GLAAD’s Generation Z & HIV: Human Issue, Southern Solution: An HBCU Tour, on October 28. Buzz about Snoop’s appearance intensified on campus in the hours leading up to the program’s start time. So much so, it would have been easy for one to assume the buzzing was coming from HBCU rival Alabama State University Hornets instead of the Jackson State University Tigers.

The launch of the HBCU Tour initiative at JSU expands the work of GLAAD’s News and Rapid Response team and the annual GLAAD Down South media event, founded by Darian Aaron, GLAAD’s Director of Local News: U.S. South.

Generation Z is the most out LGBTQ generation in history, 22% are LGBTQ, yet the least knowledgeable about HIV.

Only 37% of Gen Z, ages 18 to 26, said they feel knowledgeable about HIV, according to GLAAD research published in the 2024 State of HIV Stigma Study. And, with fewer pieces of film and television media portraying characters living or dealing with HIV, Gen Z is not receiving the HIV information they deserve, including scientific developments such as PrEP, a once-a-day pill or newly approved, twice-yearly injection that reduces the risk of acquiring HIV from sex by about 99% when taken as prescribed.

While Snoop Dogg may have been the draw for some students, the HIV education they received during the event, including a storytelling exchange featuring expert Mississippi HIV advocates and representatives from Gilead Sciences, which powered the exchange, along with free HIV testing courtesy of mobile testing units available before and after the program provided by Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Center and Open Arms Healthcare Center, was priceless.

“Having on-site testing available before and after the event was paramount as we planned Generation Z & HIV,” Aaron said. “People living with HIV who have access to treatment can achieve an undetectable status, which makes HIV untransmittable, the key message of U=U. HIV-negative people who are “HIV-possible” can also get access to PrEP to prevent acquiring HIV. Testing remains one of the most significant ways to reduce the transmission of HIV.”

Snoop Dogg, whose family hails from Magnolia and McComb, Mississippi, joined Aaron in a GLAAD-produced fireside chat, where they addressed recent statements on LGBTQ representation in media and the impact of HIV in the music industry. During the chat, Snoop Dogg addressed recent statements involving LGBTQ representation in media and the effects of HIV in the music industry.

“I’ve always advocated peace and love and diversity,” Snoop Dogg told Aaron in response to skepticism from critics about his recent LGBTQ advocacy following controversial statements he made on a podcast in August.

“I had no understanding of a situation that was brought before me while I was with my grandson. But through time and experience and love, you learn to live and you get information, you find out how to understand things better,” Snoop Dogg said. “I have friends that are same-sex parents that reached out to me and gave me information on what they say to their kids when things of that nature pop up and how they speak [to their children].”

A special correspondent for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Snoop Dogg, said his role as an Olympic torchholder is an example of his character.

“If you think back to the Olympics, they don’t give that torch to nobody that doesn’t represent peace,” Snoop Dogg said. “So when they put that in my hand, that means I’m a peace messenger and that’s what I represent. That’s what my mother and my family taught me. So it’s like, things are gonna happen that’s gonna always test you, that’s what gives you the ability to have a testimony.”

HIV in Black Communities is Far From Over

The HBCU Tour is the second time this month Snoop Dogg has been vocal about his support of the LGBTQ community. On October 16, Snoop Dogg collaborated with GLAAD for our annual Spirit Day observance, which encourages an end to anti-LGBTQ bullying, particularly targeting LGBTQ youth in schools. A special Spirit Day conversation with out music artist and former The Voice contestant Jeremy Beloate was released on YouTube, the same platform as Snoop Dogg’s animated children’s series “Doggyland.”

Snoop Dogg and Beloate collaborated on a new song called “Love is Love,” featured in a new episode of “Doggyland.” “Love Is Love” is a brand-new Doggyland track featuring a new pup, Zippy (voiced by Jeremy Beloate), who is joining the Doggyland pups to sing about the love we share with our families.

“The key is love,” Snoop Dogg said. “That’s the key to everything that we do. What I did with this particular piece is I dealt with the parents, parents who don’t probably look like a parent you might expect, sometimes it’s same-sex parents, sometimes parents that are different in other ways, but the key is love,” he added.

“There are a lot of kids who grow up with a Dad and Mom and get no love. So it’s not about that,” Snoop Dogg said. “It’s about the love you have for that baby or kid, and if that parent is same-sex, different races, different religion, it’s about giving that baby love to grow up with.”

During the fireside chat with Snoop Dogg, Aaron also seized the opportunity to ask Snoop to share the impact HIV has had on his life, as he lost industry colleagues Eazy E in 1995 and Craig Mack in 2018 from HIV-related complications.

“How do you treat it [HIV]? How do you prevent it? Hopefully, in 2025, there will be more information,” Snoop Dogg said before reflecting on the limited information available to him and his Gen X peers during the early days of the epidemic.

“There was no medical information to let us know what was going on. We were so scared we stopped everything,” Snoop Dogg said.

Rapper Craig Mack, whose hit 1994 single “Flava In Ya Ear” became a hip-hop staple of the era and was frequently sampled by other artists, reportedly passed from HIV-related complications in 2018 after entering a religious cult opposed to medical intervention, according to Mack’s daughter in a 2024 piece by Rolling Stone.

While Mack’s family honored his wishes and repeated his assertion that he had congestive heart failure, Mack’s cause of death was HIV/AIDS, according to his death certificate, and he had refused to seek treatment.

“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,” Aaron said. “The HBCU Tour is one way GLAAD is arming those most at risk with the information necessary to safeguard their health.”  

Snoop Dogg shared a message specifically for Black straight men and everyone who believes they are not susceptible to acquiring HIV.

“A disease shows no prejudice,” Snoop Dogg said. “The best thing you can do is get protected, find more information.”

GLAAD’s Generation Z & HIV: Human Issue, Southern Solution: An HBCU Tour will continue in 2026 with stops at Alabama State University and Morehouse College.

Photo caption: Students, faculty, staff, and community leaders in attendance at the launch of “Generation Z & HIV” pose for a group photo with iconic rapper Snoop Dogg following a surprise appearance at Jackson State University on October 28, 2025.

Source: GLAAD