Jonathan Van Ness says living with HIV has changed their ‘outlook on the world’
Jonathan Van Ness. (Rich Polk/Getty)
Jonathan Van Ness has said being diagnosed with HIV changed their “outlook on the world”.
The Queer Eye star’s comments came as it was announced that they will be the voice of a new Vice TV documentary examining the AIDS epidemic on the 40th anniversary of the first confirmed cases of HIV.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the documentary, Jonathan Van Ness said: “Living with HIV has changed my life and my outlook on the world.
“The HIV Social Safety Net in the United States does not serve people equally and being part of this mission to educate more people is something I’m honoured to do.”
Vice Versa: The Neglected Pandemic, 40 Years of HIV & AIDS will debut 2 June in the United States and will be distributed worldwide, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The documentary will feature interviews with people living with HIV, including Hamilton star and activist Javier Muñoz, while Dr Anthony Fauci will also reflect on the impact of the health crisis in the 1980s.
Jonathan Van Ness has advocated for better understanding of HIV
Jonathan Van Ness rose rapidly to fame as the grooming expert on Queer Eye in 2018, a Netflix reboot of the Bravo series.
In 2019, they revealed in an interview with The New York Times that they were living with HIV.
“When Queer Eye came out, it was really difficult because I was like ‘Do I want to talk about my status?'” they said at the time.
“And then I was like, ‘The Trump administration has done everything they can do to have the stigmatisation of the LGBT community thrive around me.”
Van Ness has since spoken on a number of occasions about the lifesaving power of antiretroviral medication, which stops people with HIV from developing AIDS. When taken daily, effective medication also makes it impossible to pass HIV on through condomless sex.
