Billy Porter Reveals His HIV-Positive Status: 'I Survived So That I Could Tell the Story'

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In an emotional testimonial for THR, actor, singer and activist theebillyporter revealed that since 2007, he has been living with HIV.

star revealed that in 2007, he went to a clinic to have a"pimple" on his butt checked out. The doctor asked if he wanted to have an HIV test while he was there, and Porter said yes."So I went in, got the pimple drained and got tested, and then the doctor came back and looked at me," he shared."I was like, 'What?' He sat down, and I was like, 'No. Nooo.' And he said, 'Your test came back positive.

Porter revealed that for much of the last 14 years, most people close to him knew about his status, save for his mother. He kept his status hidden from everyone else, until having to quarantine in Long Island for the last year thanks to the global pandemic and his pre-existing condition. Then, he said that he was forced to confront his decision to keep his HIV status a secret from his mother -- and from the world.

One of the first steps in confronting his shame came with revealing his positive status to his mother. Porter said that he kept his HIV status from her largely because he felt he had already burdened her by simply being a queer man."My mother had been through so much already, so much persecution by her religious community because of my queerness, that I just didn’t want her to have to live through their 'I told you so’s,'" he explained.

Today, Porter says his HIV is"completely undetectable," meaning that his viral load has been reduced to small enough amounts that it can no longer be detected by blood tests, and it can no longer be transmitted through sex."The truth is the healing. And I hope this frees me. I hope this frees me so that I can experience real, unadulterated joy, so that I can experience peace, so that I can experience intimacy, so that I can have sex without shame," he said.

 

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