Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness Is A 'Member Of The Beautiful H.I.V.-Positive Community'

Today must be a nerve-wracking day for Jonathan Van Ness. The Queer Eye star has published a revealing New York Times interview, detailing intimate revelations with fans ahead of his tell-all memoir.

The “Yaasss Queen” Jesus-lookalike has revealed an astoundingly tumultuous past that has led him to his LGBTQ+ platform, including disclosing his H.I.V.-positive status.

Talking to Times’ Alex Hawgood, the Illinois native discussed surviving sexual abuse as a boy, which resulted in “compound trauma”. Growing up, JVN solicited sex from older men in online chatrooms – a self-destructive behaviour that grew from his childhood assault.

Following high school, he moved to the University of Arizona but quickly blew his monthly allowance on cocaine. Rather than ashamedly asking his mother for more money, he advertised for sex on Gay.com to pay his way.

After flunking college at 19, Jonathan got a certificate as a beautician and began his journey to what ultimately led to his spot on Queer Eye. However, at the age of 25, JVN fainted one day while highlighting a client’s hair in a salon. His flulike symptoms were diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive, a diagnosis JVN has been tossing up whether to share.

“When Queer Eye came out, it was really difficult because I was like, ‘Do I want to talk about my status? And then I was like, ‘The Trump administration has done everything they can do to have the stigmatization of the L.G.B.T. community thrive around me.’,” he told Times.

JVN is a healthy member of what he describes as “the beautiful H.I.V.-positive community” and has opened up a frank discourse about the virus.

Thank you @jvn. You are helping so many in the HIV+ community by being your beautiful self. https://t.co/nvmEEbr0nx

— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) September 21, 2019

Dear @jvn - you make the world a braver, kinder, and more gorgeous place. ♥️ https://t.co/7bjoEEx0sN

— Brené Brown (@BreneBrown) September 21, 2019

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Thanks for sharing your status @jvn, and shining a light on livi with HIV in 2019. I’m also an “out and loud member of the beautiful HIV-positive community” ❤️❤️❤️ https://t.co/U4xw7ejnyt

— David Russell (@17days) September 21, 2019

Jonathan’s shamazing memoir Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love is due to hit bookshelves on September 24.

- Tait McGregor

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