Troye Sivan posts picture of his daily PrEP and Metamucil regimen, says the combo “keeps him gay”

Gay celebrities: they take their medicine just like us!

This week, Troye Sivan shared a picture on his Instagram story with his palm open and three different kinds of pills–two of which are instantly recognizable to any gay man worth his 5-inch inseams.

PrEP and Metamucil!

The pop star said the combo “keeps him gay.”

Truer words have never been spoken.

Sivan, a gay pop icon whose songs speak directly to the queer community, deserves a lot of kudos for promoting good sexual health to his Instagram audience of 14 million followers. PrEP is a life-altering medication that reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex about 99 percent of the time when taken daily.

Yet, PrEP use among gay and bisexual men remains low, according to a 2021 study. As of 2019, 35 percent of gay or bi men in the U.S. at high risk of HIV infection were using PrEP, despite nine out of 10 respondents saying they know about it.

There are multiple reasons for the disparity, including its insanely high cost (gotta love our incredible healthcare system)! But Sivan, and other gay celebrities, promoting the drug can only help close the gap.

There’s also something particularly symbolic about Sivan posting about his daily PrEP regimen, given his admirable history of speaking openly about the gay experience.

When asked in a 2018 interview about his single “Bloom,” which is explicitly about the experience of bottoming, the Australian pop star said he writes directly for queer audiences.

“A big thing for me with this album is, I wanted to write music that didn’t feel like—I’m sorry—bulls***,” he told Them. “I didn’t want to bulls*** anybody. I live in this very particular, surreal world where I hang out almost exclusively with queer people.”

“You know, for me, this is really real life, being able to celebrate these things, being able to talk about these things, and just being as open and honest as you want, and I didn’t want to come to this album writing for anyone but me and my friends.”

And when gay friends gather, the conversation occasionally steers towards fiber supplements. Some, including this humble writer, would consider them to be a vital part of the gay diet.

(Before we go further, it’s important to point out that Metamucil shouldn’t be taken at the same time as PrEP, or any other prescription medication. Let’s hope that Sivan was just putting them in the shot together for the sake of convenience.)

But don’t try to glean any hints about Sivan’s sexual life from his Metamucil habit. In the aforementioned Them interview, he rejected the notion he’s a “bottom icon,” and later called the question “completely reductive.”

Sivan isn’t carrying out some schtick or putting on a show. He’s a gay man, and many gay men take PrEP and fiber supplements (just not at the same time)! It’s awesome that he’s showing that to the world.