Sept. 21 (UPI) — Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness has revealed he was diagnosed with HIV when he was a 25-year-old hair stylist.
“That day was just as devastating as you would think it would be,” The New York Times reported the reality TV star and recovering drug addict wrote in his memoir, Over the Top, which is due out Tuesday.
Van Ness told The Times in an interview published Saturday that he is healthy now and regards himself as a “member of the beautiful H.I.V.-positive community.”
“When Queer Eye came out, it was really difficult because I was like, ‘Do I want to talk about my status?” he said. “And then I was like, ‘The Trump administration has done everything they can do to have the stigmatization of the L.G.B.T. community thrive around me.’ I do feel the need to talk about this.”
Van Ness, 32, retweeted a link of the Times article on Saturday.
He also wrote in an Instagram post: “Having the opportunity to write my book and share my story with you is the most important opportunity I’ve ever had. The first article about the book came out today from the @nytimes & I’m relieved I can speak fully about the things that shape my experience in life. The book speaks to some extremely difficult times but it’s also filled with my humor, joy and voice & I can’t wait to share it with you fully. Thanks so much for your support so far, it means the world.”
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Having the opportunity to write my book and share my story with you is the most important opportunity I’ve ever had. The first article about the book came out today from the @nytimes & I’m relieved I can speak fully about the things that shape my experience in life. The book speaks to some extremely difficult times but it’s also filled with my humor, joy and voice & I can’t wait to share it with you fully. Thanks so much for your support so far, it means the world. Article link in bio Isak Tiner words by Alex Hawgood
A post shared by Jonathan Van Ness (@jvn) on Sep 21, 2019 at 8:23am PDT