The only thing better than seeing a polished finished product like the crowning of a RuPaul’s Drag Race winner is knowing what goes into it.

We’ve seen the sweat, tears, and hot glue that go into crowning a queen of queens, but it’s also about what they do with their newfound visibility and place in the highest gay courts. HIVhero.org partnered with OUT to go behind the scenes of the New York finale and talk with the queens about their personal journeys through the season and about HIV awareness and prevention.