Houston Pride Month's 'Black Like That Festival' spotlights joy-driven HIV prevention work

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- During Pride Month, Houston's LGBTQ+ community is recognizing a local public health leader who is reshaping HIV prevention through education, visibility and celebration. Teriko Perkins is the manager for prevention in priority populations and adolescents at Allies in Hope. He has built a reputation for connecting underserved communities with HIV testing, prevention, resources, and care without judgment.

"I want you informed, I want you educated, and I want you linked to care if that's the thing that needs to be done," Perkins said.

Perkins said a key part of his approach is joy. As a pageant performer, he has helped create programming that blends entertainment with health education. One example is "PrEP for Life," an event he describes as part drag pageant, part educational initiative designed to help community members learn about HIV prevention medication in an engaging environment.

"PrEP for Life was my labor of love, kind of my baby," Perkins said. "It's a drag pageant, sort of, but it's an educational program that allows the community to come in for a night of hair, makeup, entertainment, dance, but the whole time you're being educated on what PrEP actually is and how the medication works and how to access the medication."

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In his work with Allies in Hope, Perkins brings testing and prevention services directly into high-risk Harris County communities where HIV rates continue to outpace the state average. He said the work is driven by the impact he sees firsthand. "Being able to see the real-life changing stories and situations, being able to see how you can step into a situation and start out just greeting someone, and by the end of that appointment or that session, you've totally changed someone's life," Perkins said. "It kind of rejuvenates me."

Perkins' work will be honored at this year's Black Like That Festival. It's a community event taking place on the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and on National HIV Testing Day.

Ian Haddock, founder and executive director of the Normal Anomaly Initiative, said the festival is designed to celebrate Black queer culture while also expanding access to testing and health resources. "Black Like That Community Festival is just another arm of how we are changing our community's narratives," Haddock said. "And that looks like space for culture and music and art and celebration because joy is resistance. Culture is power."

This year, organizers hope to test more than 500 people during the event. The festival will also include an awards ceremony where Perkins will receive the Hyron Hall Memorial Award. The honor is named for Hyron Hall, who worked as a prevention trainer at the Houston Health Department before his death in 2022.

"Putting Hyron's name on this award is a semblance of closure that the community can tangibly see. They can tangibly receive, but not just closure," Haddock said. "A beautiful, amazing, and powerful new beginning because the person that is receiving this award, Terico Perkins, or Terico Ross in the community, is continuing that work."

Perkins said the recognition is meaningful, but he also pointed to the greater effort behind it. "I'm so thankful for people like Ian," Perkins said. "Although he's chosen to honor me, I have to give him his kudos and his team and honor them for the work that they're doing and actually reshaping this thing and reforming this to actually make it tangible for the Black and brown community."

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This year's festival tagline, 'We ain't going nowhere', reflects that spirit of resilience. "It's both an affirmation to myself and an affirmation to the community that together, even without all the solutions, we ain't going nowhere," Haddock said.

For Perkins, that long-term vision is bigger than recognition. He said his ultimate goal is to help end the epidemic altogether. "To be honest, in the next 13 years, I would hope not to be in this space, because what we're working on is ending the epidemic," he said.

The Black Like That Festival is scheduled for Saturday, June 27. Organizers say the event is open to everyone.