Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has responded to the announcement that newly appointed patron of the charity Gareth Thomas is to be awarded a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to health and sport. Gareth is a former Wales rugby captain, became the very first openly gay professional rugby player in 2009 and spoke publicly about living with HIV in 2019.Ian Green, Chief Executive at THT, said: “Gareth absolutely deserves this honour in recognition of all he’s done as a world class sportsperson to champion equality and inclusion, including for all of those living with HIV and the LGBTQ+ community.