At OUTMemphis, we are celebrating STD Awareness Month with an acknowledgement of all the LGBTQ people who have transformed the ways we fight HIV and other STDs.
Every week we will be highlighting an LGBTQ person whose work in sexual health has impacted the lives of LGBTQ people nationwide.
Spotlight: Diane Felix (1953)
Diane Felix, also known as Chili D, is an American disc jockey and LGBT activist. Felix was born in Stockton, California to second-generation Chicanos from farm-working families. She attended San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton where she learned to DJ. She later attended San Jose University in San Jose and scored a job at Intel. Felix later started her own business called Felix Computers where she built computers at her home in San Francisco.
In1983, Felix co-founded the Community United in Response to AIDS/SIDA (CURAS). It was the first grassroots Latinx community response to AIDS outbreak in San Francisco. Felix began as a volunteer, but quickly moved up in the organization and became the health educator.
In 1993, she also co-founded Proyecto ContraSIDA Por Vida, (PCPV), which is a community based organization dedicated to providing sex-positive health education to queer communities. Felix coordinated various projects while at the agency to address Latina lesbian and bisexual health, including the project Lesbianas y Bisexuales Respondiendo con Educación Sexual (LYBRES). LYBRES passed out contraceptives at bars to promote safe sex and also held workshops and discussion for women. Another project she oversaw was the educational performance group called ¡Sinvergüenza! The group performed skits about their experiences, sexual health, and other relevant topics the last Saturday of every month at Felix’s club, Colors.
Learn more about Diane Felix: Wikipedia, The Bay Area Reporter
