JoJo Siwa.Photo:JoJo Siwa
JoJo Siwa
JoJo Siwais taking a stand against theHIV/AIDSepidemic — and she’s encouraging her fans to do the same.
“Whether that’s people that I know personally or people that I don’t know personally that are just in my same family — LGBTQ community, young people,” Siwa says. “This new Rocket Fund launch is going to be such a great thing for the world because I think it’s going to educate and fund and really just bring awareness — more than there already is — and help take away stigma.”
“That is just going to be such a beautiful thing,” the singer adds.
JoJo Siwa; Elton John.Todd Owyoung/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
The#InnerElton social media challengeis all aboutalliesshowing their support for the new Rocket Fund. In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, John, 76, explained that this challenge — and the initiative as a whole — intends to “make sure no one gets left behind in the fight to end AIDS.”
To demonstrate her advocacy for the cause, Siwa recreated a fiery orange and red look from the 2019 movieRocketman.
JoJo Siwa.Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
The Rocket Fund was announced on June 5 — exactly 42 years from the day theCenters for Disease Control released its first reporton what would become the AIDS epidemic.
The Fund will attend to discrimination on small and large-scale projects, including working to decriminalize same-sex behavior in 11 focus countries and strengthen the capacity of local LGBTQ+ civil society to advocate for changes in several others.
John, who established hisfoundationin 1992, called The Rocket Fund “deeply personal” and said he hopes it will “champion equality and safety tobe authentically be who you are” — a sentiment he certainly helped instill in Siwa.
“He just has always been so supportive, so uplifting, so inspiring,” Siwa revealed.
JoJo Siwa.Tommaso Boddi/Variety/Getty
According to The Rocket Fund, some of those most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS are members of theLGBTQ communityand young people — more than half the new global HIV diagnoses impact youth ages 13-24. As someone who fits into thosecategories, Siwa says she hopes John’s work through both his foundation and this new initiative willtouch peopleon a deeper level.
Furnish, 60, tells PEOPLE that a key element of The Rocket Fund is to give those impacted “a voice in their own care.”
Every minute, three people around the world arediagnosedwith AIDS — but many go undiagnosed too, according to The Rocket Fund. In the United States, approximately13 percentof the 1.2 million people with HIV are unaware of it and needaccess to testing.
To address that issue, Furnish says The Rocket Fund will “support and partner with innovators who provide HIV and AIDS health education, services, and care that are localized, direct, responsive and affordable.”
By 2027, the Rocket fund says they will empower 500,000 adolescents and young people to access quality sexual and mental health services.
Elton John and David Furnish.Michael Kovac/Getty
Thefive-time Grammy winnercalled the epidemic “an issue of equality” and noted that The Rocket Man Fund gives “everyone an equal chance to protect themselves and those they love” while protecting “the most marginalized communities from discrimination.”
“Each of us can play our part in spreading this message,” John said.
Siwa, who first met John when she was 15, says she feels aspecial connection to the iconic artist. She recallspicking up the phonea day after she came out and, to her surprise, heard John on the other line. She said the two went on to speak for 10 or 20 minutes.
“For him to take the time to call little 17-year-old me the day after I came out — Elton John did that — like that’s Elton John, legend. The legend of all legends did that,” the dancer said. “That’s how you know he’s a good person.”
JoJo Siwa; Elton John.Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images; Karwai Tang/WireImage
TheTIME100 honoree,who came out in January 2021, explained that in the moment, she didn’t see the magnitude of her joining the LGBTQ community.
“I didn’t really realize what I was doing,” she confessed. “I know that sounds crazy, but I just kind of did it. I just came out and was like, ‘Yeah, this is me,’ and I didn’t realize at the time. Now looking back I’m like, ‘Whoa, kid you did that at 17 with a kid fanbase?! Like that’s crazy, good for you.'”
She continued: “I’m grateful that I was able to have such a good circle around me at the time. But I think that that’s something that’s really hard for a lot of people — when you don’t have that good bubble around you. And you just gotta find your people.”
“You have to find your chosen family — they matter so much,” she said.
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In January, the “Boomerang” singer celebrated the two-year anniversary of hercoming outwith anInstagrampost: “Two years ago today now looking back on everything…. I’m SO proud of 17-year-old JoJo,” Siwa wrote in the caption.
The snapshot featured Siwa wearing a “BEST. GAY. COUSIN. EVER.” T-shirt, which she previously posted to come out as a member of the LGBTQ community.
source: people.com
