Oct 01, 2019 at 3:19 pm

Jonathan Van Ness Talks with Jimmy Kimmel About Being HIV Undetectable & Ending Stigma!

Jonathan Van Ness wants to end the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS and other STIs!

The 32-year-old Queer Eye star explained why he went public about his HIV-positive status in his memoir “Over the Top” during Monday’s (September 30) episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“The real reason I wanted to talk about it in the book is because when I was 25 and got this, I was not someone who had this platform. I did not have access financially that I have now, and the amount of hoops I had to jump through … it is just not appropriate,” Jonathan said of finding a doctor and medication.

“We have to end the stigma around STIs and around living with HIV,” Jonathan added. “We have come such a long way in the medical community, and it’s interesting because there’s just no reason with what we know and the medical advances that we’ve had in the last 20 years for anyone to be contracting HIV now.”

Jonathan Van Ness revealed he met with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi last week to discuss the Equality Act, a bill that would extend civil rights protections to LGBT people.

“What I think is also crazy is the lack of attention to living with HIV/AIDS in America right now,” Van Ness added. “I’ve been telling a lot of people to speak truth to power and I think I have to take my turn to speak truth to power.”