viral divide

Twitter rallies around HIV-positive man after he shares cruel messages he received on Grindr

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A UK man living with HIV recently shared the vile messages he received from another user on Grindr.

Tim G is a 29-year-old man from Lancaster. In his Twitter bio, he says he is an HIV-positive marathon runner. Many of the topics discussed on his page relate to HIV and LGBTQ issues.

Last week, he shared screen shots of the conversation he had with an anonymous Grindr user along with the caption: “Well sadly this is still a thing. Why on earth this person has so much hate in their life? I simply said ‘thankyou’ and got ‘you’re welcome you c**t’ before being blocked.”

The conversation opened with a blank profile (of course!) bluntly asking Tim: “How did you get HIV?”

To which, Tim politely replied: “Most people diagnosed with HIV in the UK acquire the virus through unprotected vaginal or anal sex.”

“How did you get it,” the user pressed, “from f*cking around or did your boyfriend give it to you?”

“Why does this matter to you?” Tim asked.

Then Tim explained: “Why would you ask such personal questions. Like most people in the UK, I acquired it via sex, who that was from or how that happened has nothing to do with you, especially as a blank profile.”

He added, “If you’d like to know more, you can look at the NHS website or search for Terrence Higgins Trust.”

This didn’t sit well with the other user, who quipped, “Lmao still an arrogant c*nt I see.”

“Funny isn’t it how the shallow arrogant pricks end up catching HIV.”

“Serves you right.”

But Tim didn’t take the bait. Instead, he politely replied, “Thank you.” To which the user responded with a catty, “You’re welcome, you c*nt,” and then blocked him.

After sharing the conversation on Twitter, Tim was met with an outpouring of support from both friends and strangers.

HIV/AIDS activist Matthew Hodson tells PinkNews, “There’s still a lot of stigma attached to living with HIV. When someone is cruel or abusive in return, it only makes it harder for people to disclose in future.”

“When someone is on effective treatment they can’t pass it on to their sexual partners (often referred to as ‘Undetectable = Untransmittable’).”

He adds, “Rejecting sexual partners because they’ve told you that they are living with HIV is not an effective prevention strategy.”

Related: HIV stigma summed up in one nasty 8-word Grindr message

h/t: PinkNews

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