LIFE LESSONS

E x e c u t i v e d i r e c t o r o f N A M / a i d s m a p , a c t o r a n d H I V a c t i v i s t

HIV activist and actor Matthew Hodson

I’M HAPPIEST WHEN PERFORMING. WHEN YOU ARE IN A SHOW, ARMED WITH A GREAT SCRIPT AND SURROUNDED BY BRILLIANT CREATIVES, THAT’S JOY Health is my most treasured possession. I’ve challenged it in many ways over the years, but I’m trying to atone for that now My biggest fear is that the urgency of the climate crisis isn’t being addressed. If we can’t fix this, then everything else we fight for is just sorting the furnishings on a ship that’s going down My biggest weakness is still wanting to be pretty I USED TO BE A SKINNY LITTLE TWINK. IT STILL COMES AS A

BIT OF A SHOCK WHEN PEOPLE REFER TO ME AS A DILF — NOT THAT I OBJECT TO THAT. I FACED GETTING FIT OR GETTING FAT — STAYING THE SAME WAS NEVER AN OPTION

Heartbreak, the death of my father, lack of confidence – these things have hit me hard in the past. Staying mentally well is an ongoing process for me

The best piece of advice I have heard is “work out who you are and then start doing it on purpose” – Dolly Parton I don’t know how I got HIV. It may have been from sex — always with condoms — with a long- term partner who had HIV in the days before treatment, or it may have been when I was depressed and reckless after that relationship ended badly. Either way, if PrEP had been available, I wouldn’t have HIV now

MY MOTTO IS “FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY” My goal in life is to end HIV stigma. We’re never going to be able to end this epidemic unless we can do this

If I could give my younger self a piece of advice, it would be to not give bad reviews more mind than the good ones

I DON’T LIVE OPENLY WITH HIV. I LIVE BLATANTLY WITH IT Being on stage teaches me that you need to commit, absolutely, to every moment U= U ( when we are HIV undetectable we are untransmittable) is central to my HIV activism. It challenges the fear that so many people have of those of us living with HIV The way I am on Twitter isn’t the same as I am in real life. In real life I’m not half as nice

As the executive director of UK- based charity NAM/ aidsmap, Matthew Hodson is helping to change the lives of HIV+ people by providing clear and accurate information about HIV/ Aids to help bring about an end to the stigma surrounding the virus and to help more people get access to treatment. In addition to his day job, Matthew is an actor and has performed in some successful theatre productions including Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap in London’s West End and in The

Chemsex Monologues. He can also be seen in the recent web series The

Grass Is Always Grindr and Flatshare, which are both available to view

free on YouTube. @ Matthew_ Hodson

aidsmap. com

A cure for HIV is still a long way off. I don’t believe I’ll ever be cured and, to be honest, I don’t really mind. I care more that we’ve had effective treatment for 23 years and a third of the global population of people with HIV can’t access it ATTEMPTS TO SLUT- SHAME PREP USERS, OR ALL PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV, ARE MADDENING

An HIV diagnosis can change your life for the better, because it can give you focus — as it did for me. But if I could have had that wisdom and insight without this incurable virus, that would have been better still

I believe the NHS is one of our greatest achievements, and the prospect of moving to a profit- based model, as we see in the US, fills me with dread and anger. Just look at the rates of treatment and care for HIV in the US, compared to the UK. We’re miles ahead The most important thing gay men can do for their health is to stop smoking. We are more likely to smoke than our straight peers and it causes more deaths than either HIV or Chemsex THE WORST PART OF HIV STIGMA IS THAT IT’S BASED ON OUTDATED INFORMATION. THE TOMBSTONE FROM THOSE 1980’ S ADS HAS CAST A VERY LONG SHADOW