Thats what she gets!Its been twelve years since two-time Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Michael R. Jackson heard those words echo through the movie theater where he begrudgingly went to watch Tyler Perrys 2013 film Temptation: Confessions of A Marriage Counselor. The protagonist, Judith, played by actress Jurnee Smollett, is diagnosed with HIV after engaging in condomless sex outside of her marriage. Related Chasten Buttigieg never thought hed be a dad. Now his hit childrens book stars his own family. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today I didnt realize when I went to go see it that it was gonna have this crazy HIV plot device in it and that it was gonna be used in such an irresponsible and poorly written way, Jackson told LGBTQ Nation. It just made me really angry.The cinematic moment harkened back to Killing All The Right People, a 1987 episode of the hit series Designing Women, which reflected, at the time, the widespread public sentiment regarding HIV as Gods punishment for homosexuality. Although fictional, both moments, along with the loss of two of Jacksons real-life friends to HIV-related complications, inspired him to tackle the impact of religious-fueled HIV stigma in his magnum opus, A Strange Loop.Frustrated with his day job ushering for Broadway musicals, a young, gay, Black writer decides to write a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who decides to write a musical about a young, gay, Black writer. Stuck in this strange loop, the protagonist takes the audience on a kaleidoscopic journey of identity, desire, and self-acceptance backed up by an ensemble of Thoughts who call it like they see it in this self-referential musical. Sponsored by Gilead Sciences, A Strange Loop is onstage now through August 31st at Actors Express in Atlanta. Jacksons critically acclaimed musical delivers stinging critiques of Perrys work, as well as the religious-based homophobia prevalent in Black communities that has allowed HIV stigma to thrive decades after the disease decimated Black and queer communities and nearly 30 years after antiretroviral drugs changed HIV from a death sentence to a chronic, but manageable condition.A Strange Loop sets a different scene than 90s Broadway juggernaut RENT. Written by the late Jonathan Larson, the show takes place at the height of the HIV epidemic and before scientific advancements like PrEP, the once-daily pill approved by the FDA in 2012 or now twice-yearly injection to prevent HIV acquisition, approved this year. A Strange Loop sits squarely in this new reality for Black gay men, with multiple references to Truvada the first combination therapy prescribed for PrEP from Gilead. Jackson admits to having complex feelings about the game-changing drug.I have seen up close what HIV can do to someone. But I also dont necessarily feel as liberated as other gay men, Jackson said, before sharing his aversion to casual sex. Theres this duality of me wanting it but not wanting it. Losing someone as I did very much radicalized me on this topic, and so I take that very seriously, of people taking control of their sexual health. A devastating and hopeful loopA Detroit native raised in the Black church, Jackson came of age after the worst of the HIV crisis. As a result, he says he had no sense of what to look for or think about when faced with the imminent death of a graduate school classmate and close friend in 2019 from HIV-related complications. The friend, whose name Jackson declined to disclose out of respect for his surviving relatives, was 37 at the time of his death and was initially selected to be in charge of orchestrations for A Strange Loop.I noticed that his behavior just started to get a little erratic, and he was always very secretive, and I couldnt quite figure out what was going on, Jackson said.Secrecy, silence, stigma, and shame, these are the things that help this disease to continue to go on.Michael R. JacksonA text exchange between the two, where the friend casually mentioned being in the hospital, was the first crack in a closely guarded secret about his health.I was like, why are you in the hospital? And he said, Im having some heart trouble. And I was like, heart trouble? He says, Yeah. And then he was still casual. He goes, Oh yeah, its related to my underlying HIV status.'In the same text exchange, Jackson says his friend revealed the progression of his HIV diagnosis to AIDS. And despite being aware of his HIV status for at least a decade, denial and shame led him to reject taking the antiretroviral drugs that would have suppressed the virus to undetectable levels in his body.He left the hospital against doctors orders. He went back to his apartment. He still wouldnt tell his family. Everybody was operating under the impression he had this heart problem, which may have been technically true, but that wasnt the full truth, Jackson said. A couple of weeks after Jacksons friend returned home, he received a text message from his sister, who shared the news of his passing the previous night.He had just texted me the other day to tell me that he loved me, Jackson said, as tears began to fall. It felt so unfair, and I felt so stupid because I couldnt believe that I didnt pick up on it.Within three years, Jackson lost his friend and fellow Broadway composer Michael Friedman, 41, who succumbed to the virus in 2017 after experiencing several opportunistic infections and after being diagnosed only nine weeks earlier. Secrecy, silence, stigma, and shame, these are the things that help this disease to continue to go on, Jackson said.To add insult to injury, the remains of Jacksons friend were transported from New York City back to his hometown in Raleigh, NC, where, according to Jackson, the notoriously homophobic Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr., head pastor of The Upper Room Church of God in Christ, officiated the funeral. Jackson loosely based the minister character in A Strange Loop who declares AIDS is Gods Punishment for homosexuality after Wooden Sr.If my show has any impact on Black gay men to embrace and take control of their lives in that way, I am proud.Michael R. JacksonThere were just so many things going on that I felt so sad and angry about that A Strange Loop ended up becoming the container for, Jackson said.At his friends funeral, Jackson recalled, Wooden Sr. made this comment about how he was so sorry that his mother couldnt save her baby.I also heard that some of his gay friends were not allowed to be pallbearers.While infuriating, none of what Jackson heard from Woodens inappropriate comments or past homophobic sermons surprised him. Instead, it all aligned with his long-standing experience in the Black church.My childhood pastor never directly said AIDS is Gods punishment, but there would be so many sermons where it didnt matter where it started, somehow it would get around to them homosexuals and that reprobate lifestyle. After all, according to the minister in A Strange Loop, The only thing worse than dying from AIDS is living with it, exemplifying decades of harmful rhetoric that continues in religious spaces.After all the loss hes experienced, one important wish remains for Black gay men and for Jacksons friend, whose life ended way too soon.I wish that my friend who passed away had [PrEP], Jackson said. If my show has any impact on Black gay men to embrace and take control of their lives in that way, I am proud.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.