Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle has revealed he is HIV positive in a historic speech in the House of Commons.
Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, speaking in the House of Commons, said: "Next year I'll be marking an anniversary of my own: 10 years since I became HIV positive.
"It's been a long journey - from the fear to acceptance and from today advocacy, knowing my treatment keeps me healthy and that it protects any partner I have."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was present in the chamber as Mr Russell-Moyle made his speech.
With Labour colleagues surrounding him, Mr Russell-Moyle added: "I finally wanted to be able to stand in this place and tell all those out there living with HIV, that their status does not define them.
"We can be whoever we want to be and to those who haven't been tested, maybe because out of fear, I say it is better to live in knowledge than die in fear."
He added: "I am an HIV-positive man, but because I've been taking the right medication for several years, I am what the NHS calls HIV-positive 'undetectable'.
"That means not only that you cannot detect HIV in my system, so I don't get sick, it also means I can't transmit HIV to someone else.
READ MORE: HIV Scotland survey finds third of Scots teens think virus can be caught from toilet seats
"So as the virus lays undetectable and dormant in my body, my medication ensures that the virus doesn't reactivate, doesn't progress and can't be passed on. That's why the NHS says: Undetectable equals untransmittable."
Mr Russell-Moyle went on: "It is safer to have sex with someone who is HIV positive undetectable than it is to have sex with someone who doesn't know their status, because undetectable equals untransmittable.
"Understanding that I was unable to transmit my HIV sexually has been life-changing. I went from thinking that I would never be able to have an HIV-negative partner or that if I had sex with someone I could pass it on - to the knowledge that I could live a normal life, and that any partner I have is totally protected.
"So I can't transmit HIV to a sexual partner and I live a perfectly healthy life so my announcement today should pass by unnoticed."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn intervened in the debate to praise Mr Russell-Moyle's "brilliant and historic speech".
READ MORE: Herald View: Ignorance over HIV is far from bliss
He said said: "I think he's making an absolutely brilliant and historic speech and I'm very grateful that he mentioned my good friend Chris Smith who very bravely told the world in 1984 that he was gay and proud of it, and we're proud of Chris for doing that.
"I'm also very pleased that he's brought up the international context of this. The international context where there is appalling levels of prejudiced and abuse against HIV-positive people and against the LGBT community in many countries around the world.
"We just need to send a message out from this House of Commons: this country has changed its attitudes, we have done a great deal medically to help people. We need to ensure that the rest of the world understands that we can do the same in every country."
He added: "We have to close our minds to prejudice and open our minds up to human rights and justice."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel