Veda Lady: Secrets, Sequins, Solidarity

HIV: The Morning After · Oct 1, 2026 · 57m

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…