The 31-year-old released his essay via Good Morning America and revealed that he had been living with HIV for the past eight years. “It has taken me eight years and a global pandemic to be able to articulate those words confidently and put to paper,” he wrote. “Not a day has gone by that I didn’t feel shame, fear, guilt and often, anguish.
And I have lived every single one of those days carrying a weight of humiliation because that’s what society told me I should feel; that’s what our society told me I deserved. “And I know that’s what society has probably whispered to you too, about people like me.
I allowed myself to think my shame was justified. I accepted a life as a degenerate. And I convinced myself I could never be worthy of love. “F