For over a decade, Veda Lady was the most recognisable drag queen in Dublin. They talk to Dan Hall about a childhood spent dodging the word "AIDS", the partner who begged them not to tell, and the 2019 disclosure that led to Ireland's first podcast made by and for people living with HIV.
Summary
Veda Lady has spent three decades as Dublin's reigning drag mother, but for a long stretch of that career they were keeping the biggest secret of their life.
Growing up gay in 1970s and 80s Catholic Ireland, they were accused of having AIDS at twelve, years before they understood what it really meant. It was a fear that resurfaced when they received their own HIV diagnosis in the early 2000s. Veda describes the deal they made to stay silent, and then the 2019 disclosure timed to a new marriage and a song, "I Came Out One Night".
Veda also traces the drag lineage behind their activism, from San Francisco's Trannyshack to Dublin's Alternative Miss Ireland, and explains how a lockdown drag show streamed from their kitchen grew into Poz Vibe, the podcast and social enterprise they now run with Doctor Robbie Lawlor for people living with HIV across Ireland.
Timestamped Takeaways
[12:06] Introducing Veda — three decades a fixture of queer Dublin, and the first podcast made for and by people living with HIV
[16:48] A grey childhood in Catholic Ireland — bullied, and accused of having AIDS at twelve
[21:26] Dropping out of Trinity College — for the door of a Dublin cabaret club
[26:52] San Francisco, 1996 — a first night in drag at the club now known as T*Shack (its original name has since been retired), run by the late Heklina
[33:21] Alternative Miss Ireland — drag family, chosen sisters, and a tribute to Thom McGinty, "The Diceman"
[42:44] The double life — an HIV diagnosis, a frightened partner, and a promise to tell no one
[45:34] Atripla, insomnia and anxiety — years spent blaming her mental health for the medication
[51:16] Coming out in 2019 — "I Came Out One Night," the Irish charts, and the kitchen drag shows that became Poz Vibe
Guest Bio
Veda Lady is a Dublin drag artist, broadcaster and HIV activist who has performed across Ireland for over three decades. Diagnosed with HIV in the early 2000s, they kept their status private until 2019, when they came out publicly and co-founded Poz Vibe Podcast and Poz Vibe Tribe with Doctor Robbie Lawlor — now one of Ireland's largest peer-led HIV communities, over 100 episodes deep.
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