Lloyd Russell-Moyle is a British MP who this week addressed the House of Commons, opening up about the fact that heâs HIV-positive in order to combat stigma around the disease.
His disclosure comes just ahead of the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day on December 1.
âSuch events are also deeply personal to me,â he said of the occasion. âNext year I will be marking an anniversary of my own â 10 years since I became HIV positive. It has been a long journey, from the fear of acceptance and today, hopefully, advocacy, knowing that my treatment keeps me healthy and protects any partner that I may have.â
Russell-Moyle was candid as he walked his colleagues through his experience of testing positive:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
âWhen you get that call from the clinic and they just say: âYou need to come in.â They donât tell you the details, and you know immediately that something is going to be wrongâŚ.So all the different worst case scenarios flash through your mindâŚ.At the same time you are working out all the ways that this is some joke, some technical error, some tiny thing that theyâre going to tell you that youâre going to be laughing about later onâŚand then they tell you and it hits you like a wallâŚNothing quite prepares you for when they say those wordsâŚYou walk out feeling totally numb, with a million things going through your mind, and at the same time a sense of absolute nothingness.â
He also spoke about being undetectable, explaining that means he cannot transmit the virus.
âI wanted to be able to stand here in this place and say to those who are living with HIV that their status does not define them,â he added. âWe can be whoever we want to be, and to those who have not been tested, maybe because of fear, I say to you: it is better to live in knowledge than to die in fear.â
Watch below:
He later reflected on his decision:
Lacuevaman
his shame is not being gay and having HIV …his shame is catching the phucking disease in 2018/2017/2016!
JamJewel
âNext year I will be marking an anniversary of my own â 10 years since I became HIV positive.” That makes it 2009! Still not good, but accurate.
Chrisk
@Lacuevaman. Wouldnât 10 years ago be 2008?
He’s doing a lot more than most and that includes keyboard assholes such as yourself.
Lacuevaman
my bad, i missed his infection year. i apologize and wish him only the best.
Chrisk
đ
docofed
Your shame is judgement and condemnation of another. It is time for empathy and not blame and shame!
QueerTruth
There is no shame to a disease.
Even a diseased mind like your own is nothing to be ashamed of.
Pete le meat
HIV is nothing to be proud of.
Chrisk
Oh look. Another troll name pops up today.
QueerTruth
It’s his courage and work for his fellow citizens that we are proud of.
Kev57
Nothing to be ashamed of, either. Unless one should be ashamed of cancer, diabetes, depression, being gay, etc.
Chrisk
I’m sure they already are on the last one. đ