TAMPA, Fla. — A leader in the Bay Area’s LGBTQIA+ community is using her voice at her day job to make sure her community is safe.

Kiala Dureke is taking off her crown as Ms. St. Pete Pride and putting on her HIV advocacy hat.

“The timing is essential because we have so many different testing days throughout the year, making sure people know when those testing days are will help people to develop a really good testing regimen for themselves,” she said.

Dureke works as the medical adherence case manager at the HIV awareness nonprofit Positively U.

She said getting comfortable with the idea of getting tested is just as important as the test itself.

“The stigma is still very much there. People are still very much ashamed, so it is important to get tested to know your status so that you’re not transmitting it to other people,” she said.

Being a minority and a trans woman, Dureke said it’s important to get the message out there about testing and to remind people that HIV doesn’t discriminate. It impacts every community.

“I am not living with HIV. That is correct, but I am passionate because many of my friends and family members have been and are living with HIV and it’s something I have dedicated my life to about ten years ago,” she said.

According to the latest numbers from the CDC, 13% of Floridians with HIV are unaware of their status.

Last month, during national testing day, Dureke and the staff at Positively U hosted a cookout along with free testing.

It’s just one of the many things they’re doing year-round to make sure everyone in the community knows their status.

Positively U has locations in Tampa, Winter Haven and Miami.