This profile is part of Queerty’s Out For Good series, recognizing those who came out to make a difference. The series will run throughout October in honor of National Coming Out Day on October 11.
Name: Marc Malkin, 49
Bio: Entertainment writer and awards show red carpet fixture. Malkin grew up in New York where he launched his career in entertainment journalism at Premiere. He’s since moved to the front of the camera, becoming a popular personality for E! News. In 2018, he joined the staff of Variety as lifestyle editor. He two Emmy nominations along the way.
Coming Out: Malkin’s never hid his sexuality, publicly sharing stories about his personal life. He wed husband Fabian Quesada in 2014, immediately posting the images. He’s also written tender recollections from his teen years of his two gay uncles who died from AIDS complications. Malkin has also helped other celebrities come out of the closet, including Wentworth Miller. But coming out has many facets, and in June 2018, Malkin surprised by coming out again, this time, as HIV+.
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In an Instagram post, Malkin shared anecdotes from his first AIDS LifeCycle ride, talked about being positive himself.
Related: Prominent red carpet reporter Marc Malkin comes out as HIV-positive
“On this beautiful day of LGBTQ pride, I have something to say for the first time in such a public forum,” he wrote. “I am HIV-positive.” Malkin went on to reveal his own battle with crystal meth addiction through the 00’s, and receiving his HIV diagnosis shortly thereafter. He stated that coming out as HIV+ was meant to honor his uncles and to show the world he had no shame in his status.
Making a Difference: Malkin made clear that he came out as HIV+ to help end the stigma that still looms over the disease. He wanted people who know him from his life on the red carpet that he still leads a happy, healthy life, maintains a happy marriage and a successful career. He came out as a former addict for the same reason: that people would follow his example to get help in personal battles against substance abuse and go on to live a fabulous life.
Words of Wisdom, as told to Queerty:
“For me, coming out as HIV+ is about visibility. It is about showing the world that I am not ashamed of my status, that I am a survivor, that I am healthy and I am strong. We are only as sick as our secrets and this secret was killing me—not physically, but emotionally. I lived in fear of people finding out. I lived in fear of people founding out and judging me. Coming out as HIV also coincided with me coming out as being in recovery. I lived in fear of people finding out I was an addict. I lived in fear of people founding out and judging me. My fears about coming out as positive and ask addict in recovery were unfounded. I’ve received nothing but love and support. But more importantly, I’ve heard from others who are positive who have thanked me for having the courage to be out and have told me I’ve inspired them to do the same. Coming out was good for me and I hope good for others.”
Vince
Love sucess stories like this. It’s also very brave to come out with all this.
Sad fact is being a meth addict is practically a guarantee that you’ll also be hiv-positive. A Bittersweet reality when you finally break the chains of addiction.
fur_hunter
Even in this day and time, with the imbecilic thinking out there, it is NOT easy to come out publically. BUT…..the more that do, the more it shows those STUPID, IGNORANT, IMBECILIC, MORNOIC, DUMB@$$, INTOLERANT, F*CKTARD BIGOTS that Gays are…EVERYWHERE and in EVERY segment of business and society. When they FINALLY get educated to the KNOWN facts regarding homosexuality and come to understand that we DO NOT CHOOSE to be gay, that we are BORN that way, and get their F*cking nose out of the damn 1500-year-old book written by MEN…NOT GOD, they will stop the discrimination and vilification of gays. But as my mother tells me. “Don’t hold your breath. You’d look like Hell BLUE.” GRIN!
Umoja
These days it seems a tiny bit odd to come out as HIV positive and have no mention of being undetectable. This is the new message the rest of the world needs to become conversant in. U=U. One’s status is not a universal thing any more – but its own narrative arc of moving from a moderate or high viral load to one that qualifies as undetectable.
bowlingbutch
What a nice giving man. Giving because he chose to make public a part of himself he could have kept private but now may help someone who is positive but not knowing there is love and help out there. It also shows HIV is not a death sentence like it was at the beginning of the AIDS crises. I applaud him.
KevInSD
“So, here I am celebrating LGBTQ pride and honoring my Uncle David and my Uncle Arthur by standing up and saying, “I am HIV-positive.”
I realize that the expected response to a story of this nature is mindless, drooling applause and cries of “yaaasss!”. But his declaration makes no sense to me. How does it “honor” his 2 uncles who died of AIDS to proclaim that he acquired the very same retrovirus decades after the mode of transmission was well known. If anything, his acquiring HIV showed indifference to what happened to his uncles. It certainly doesn’t honor them. The way to honor them would have been to learn from their experience and to avoid being infected with HIV.
And how does it celebrate “LGBTQ” pride to announce that you are HIV+? Is he equating having a retroviral infection with being LGB? Only a fraction of 1% of L and B women have HIV. And about 11% of G/B males in the USA have it, meaning that 89% don’t.
So Mr. Malkin, perhaps don’t link your health problem with my sexual orientation. Thanks.