Legally Blonde musical star to perform AIDS outreach

Kate Shindle, star of the musical Legally Blonde, will spend an afternoon helping people get tested for HIV as part of an outreach event sponsored by Housing Works. The former Miss America is a longtime HIV/AIDS activist who will set up camp in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a mobile testing RV.

"Ninety percent of my job as Miss America was advocating on behalf of AIDS issues. I had hoped that almost 10 years later we would have more answers," Shindle said in a statement.

Brooklyn has more people living with HIV/AIDS than any other New York City borough, and Bedford-Stuyvesant is Brooklyn's hardest-hit neighborhood. More than 5,000 Bed-Stuy residents currently have the disease.

The August 28 event is part of Housing Works' Mobile Access Neighborhood Outreach program. MANO staffers provide pre- and post-test counseling for the 20-minute OraQuick HIV test. (The Advocate)