You might know Peppermint as a finalist on season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race (and the first out trans woman to compete on the series) or perhaps caught her on Broadway in the Go-Go’s jukebox musical Head Over Heels — but many may not know the multi-talented star is also a fierce HIV advocate and educator.
Related: Watch more episodes of Dating PrEP on Out.com
Although Peppermint is not living with HIV herself, the issue hits close to home. As a Black trans woman, one of the demographics most affected by HIV in the U.S., she chooses to use her platform and status to educate her community and spread awareness around HIV.
In addition to lobbying Congress to fight cuts in federal funding to global and domestic HIV/AIDS programs, Peppermint has worked side by side in HIV vaccine research trials and with organizations like GLAAD to emphasize the importance of spreading scientific facts about the virus rather than stigma.
We recently caught up with the busy artist and activist, where she shared some real talk on the realities of navigating sex, dating, and relationships as a transgender woman of color.
“Earth Kit. Earth Kit's Catwoman is my dating alter ego,” Peppermint tells Out. “Playful, mischievous, so so fine.”
On her current dating status, she says frankly, “the jury is still out on what it is,” and further explains some of the complications that are all too familiar to many trans women. Peppermint notes how she constantly has to fight for simple things that many cis women may take for granted, like visibility and respect.
“What I'm doing, you cannot call dating. First date, meet in public, and then, whether it's an encounter or something that feels more like romantic and more relationship-oriented,” she says. “Either way, we have to be in public together at some point.”
“[Even] if it's just like a kind of nighttime thing, we're taking a walk after,” she adds. “We're going out in public some way, shape, or form. And that's a good barometer for a lot of things.”
Peppermint also takes the same approach when it comes to protecting her sexual health. Communicating with your partners is key to having a fun, healthy, and fulfilling sex life, she says. “Being prepared for any situation makes me feel sexy because it makes me feel confident. I mean, I stay up on my status, get all my testing, and I also communicate very openly with whoever my potential partners are, and I expect the same.”
“I think it's really important that sexual health practices, the communication, the responsibility for those things don't just lay at the feet of the bottom, of the femme bottom,” she continues. “There needs to be a much more open talk about testing and the responsibility of men to offer that type of information. Usually, it's like after an encounter, a guy will be like, ‘Oh, yeah, you're clean, right?’ OK, that's their sexual health.”
Peppermint says some dating “green flags” pop up when potential partners show simple signs of respect, maturity, and open communication from the start.
“In dating or even like a hookup … if I'm the one that is being visited, that they are like, ‘Take your time, do whatever you need.’ It just shows that, like, they're on my schedule, but the reward is worth the wait.”
