Billy Porter hid his HIV-positive diagnosis for 14 years

Billy Porter said the isolation of the pandemic led him to reflect on his secret that he had been hiding for 14 years.

Billy Porter hid his HIV-positive diagnosis for 14 years

Billy Porter broke his silence about his HIV diagnosis by stating that he told almost no one for 14 years because he felt shame and fear of retaliation and marginalization in the entertainment industry.

“I hope this frees me to be able to experience true pure joy, to be able to experience peace, to be able to experience intimacy, to be able to have sex without shame. This is for me,” the star said.

The 51-year-old actor, who won an Emmy Award for his HIV–positive Pray Tell character on the “FX” series, said the isolation of the pandemic led him to reflect on his secret.

Telling his mother was the hardest part, having grown up in the Pentecostal church in an intensely religious family, the stage, film and television actor said the shame of being queer was compounded by his HIV-positive status.

“My mother told me, ‘You’ve been hiding it since you were 14? Don’t do it again. I’m your mother, I’m going to love you always, no matter what.'”

She said she is “healthier today than I’ve ever been.”

Porter said 2007, the year she was diagnosed with the disease, was the worst year of her life. In addition to her HIV–positive status, that year she was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and signed bankruptcy papers.

In addition to his HIV–positive status, that same year he was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and signed insolvency papers.

He said he survived to tell the tale and is trying to start a family. He added that “shame is destructive and if you don’t deal with it, it can destroy everything around you.”