Promoting mutual aid and interdependence for queer ethnic minorities during COVID-19

This article explores the representation of sexual health in black and brown communities in London during the early COVID-19 pandemic. I examine the ‘Sex & the Coronavirus’ (2020) health comic series and interviews with HIV activists to demonstrate how they shifted the focus of COVID-19 health promotion away from the hegemonic white middle class and towards black and brown experiences. I use textual and visual analysis to trace the construction of practical information about COVID-19 and STI prevention—including biomedical, public health and relationship advice—and demonstrate how the imagery and language of mutual aid and interdependence enact counterhegemonic strategies. I argue that these materials and activist experiences set out key principles for counterhegemonic health promotion practice at the intersection of sexual health and COVID-19 prevention. I suggest that these principles should be further trialled for inclusive health promotion theory and practice.