Pop icon, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor Madonna has a bone to pick with the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump.
On Monday, the Queen of Pop noted on Instagram that December 1 was World AIDS Day, but the United States government wouldn't be acknowledging it for the first time since the World Health Organization had established the day in 1988.
In a carousel of images, Madonna shared:
"Today is World AIDS Day. For four decades, this day has been internationally recognized around the world by people from all walks of life, because millions of people's lives have been touched by the HIV crisis."
"People have lost lovers and husbands and wives and girlfriends and boyfriends and mothers and daughters and children to this deadly disease, of which there is still no cure."
Then Madonna explained why the United States didn't join the rest of the world in 2025:
"Donald Trump has announced that World AIDS Day should no longer be acknowledged."
"It's one thing to order federal agents to refrain from commemorating this day, but to ask the general public to pretend it never happened is ridiculous, it's absurd, it's unthinkable."
"I bet he's never watched his best friend die of AIDS, held their hand, and watched the blood drain from their face as they took their last breath at the age of 23."
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Then the pop icon called on people to ignore the bigotry of the Trump administration and remember those who died and those who live with AIDS.
"The list of people that I have known and loved and lost to AIDS is pretty long. I'm sure many of you out there can relate."
"There still isn't a cure for AIDS, and people still die from it. I refuse to acknowledge that these people have died in vain."
"I will continue to honor World AIDS Day, and I hope you will honor it with me."
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Friends and fans appreciated the Queen of Pop's continued support for people with HIV and AIDS while others called out Trump's bigotry.
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The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation also acknowledged Madonna's post.
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Madonna and late Oscar-winning actor Elizabeth Taylor were among the first mainstream stars to speak out about HIV and AIDS, calling for awareness and compassion.
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Taylor and her foundation and Madonna have collectively raised and donated hundreds of millions of dollars for global HIV/AIDS research, treatment, and awareness—a fact not lost on those who also lived through the '80s and those who know their history.
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While AIDS is no longer the epidemic Madonna lived through in the 1980s, people continue to contract HIV and AIDS, mostly through ignorance thanks to cuts in health education or conservative school boards or parents forcing ineffective abstinence only or a complete removal of sex education in schools.
The very Republican red Southern United States has both the highest overall number of annual new HIV/AIDS diagnoses and the highest annual rate—almost 50%—of new diagnoses, despite accounting for only 39% of the U.S. population. The South overall comes last in education, access to sex education, and access to sexual healthcare and prevention in the United States.
"Silence = death" was a mantra in the early struggle for AIDS research, treatment, and education. Ignorance and avoidance over 40 years later are just as deadly.
As the late Elizabeth Taylor stated:
"It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance."
