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A drag queen donned a tiara splattered with HIV-positive blood during a pride parade to highlight the ongoing stigma of the illness.

The artist known as Electra performs regularly at Boombox nightclub in Belfast, and was inspired by a magazine whose staff mixed infected blood with ink to print their publication.

Electra wore the blood splattered tiara at the city's Gay Pride parade, reports Belfast Live.

The drag queen said: "My princess ball gown is topped off with a beautiful tiara.

"Look closely, and you will see the red hue.

"The crown is coated in the blood of a consenting HIV+ donor, taken by a qualified doctor and then applied to the crown to dry, letting the virus die with it.

"It was sealed with a plastic sealant to protect myself against infection if rain were to liquify the blood again.

"My message is respect, solidarity, battling the stigma. We must educate ourselves more on how HIV is transmitted.

(Image: Getty)

"I have witnessed the abuse received by HIV+ brothers and sisters in our community; and this arises from ignorance, which leads to hate, and we become divided as a result.

"On Pride Day we celebrate and be joyful, but we are by no means a perfect community just yet.

"There is so much we still must learn ourselves, internally, to respect one another.

"I am fully aware that heterosexual HIV-positive individuals outweigh the number of HIV-positive homosexual people in the UK now.

"But in the light of the decision regarding the NHS funding PrEP, our community are once again labelled as sexual deviants amongst the media who regard it as a 'gay disease', and heterosexual HIV-positive individuals as innocent victims - we are all innocent victims.

"Please do not let this dilute the power of educating yourself and others on the irrational fears surrounding HIV transmission."