The recent announcement by former Wales rugby union and league player brings into focus the challenges for HIV positive people disclosing their HIV status and participating in sport.
I have been an avid cyclist for most of my life but did not ride for 11 years after contracting HIV in 1996. When I resumed cycling it was with the purpose of demonstrating that HIV is not a barrier, but it still took some time for me to disclose my status.
I can remember so clearly the fear of rejection, stigma and discrimination when I announced that I was living with HIV. Fortunately it transpired to be a very positive experience.
I can remember so clearly the fear of rejection, stigma and discrimination when I announced that I was living with HIV. Fortunately it transpired to be a very positive experience.
Following the public disclosure of my status, I competed three times in the Race Across America – a 24/7 bicycle race from San Diego to Baltimore that stretched over 5,000km. The 4person team I was a part of, Team4HIVHope, won its class in its second race. I also won four gold and three silver in the seven races I participated in at the Gay Games in Cologne in 2010 and Paris in 2018.
After coming back from a major accident, this year I achieved the Australian Hour Record in cycling for men aged 60-64 years.
My record is understood to be the first national or higher record in the last 27 years in any sport, in any country, by a person known to be living with HIV.
A record like this hasn’t been broken since 1992 when the USA Dream Team won gold at the Barcelona Olympics with Magic Johnson, who had announced that he had contracted HIV in the previous year.
It may very well be the case that other HIV positive athletes have achieved a greater record since 1992, but the stigma that has been attached to HIV for so long would have undoubtedly stopped them from coming forward.
Ever since the beginning of the epidemic, there has been, and continues to be, so much fear, hatred and hostility directed towards people living with HIV. This discrimination along with the likely devastating professional and financial consequences for an athlete whose status became known, would be reasons why a positive HIV status may continue to be fiercely protected secret for an athlete, let alone anyone living with HIV.
However, the introduction of antiretroviral medication in the mid-1990s radically transformed the impact HIV had on the body, and subsequent advances in treatments over the decades enable positive people to lead full and complete lives. Treatment is now so effective that someone living with HIV can achieve an undetectable viral load (UVL), meaning that they are completely unable to transmit the virus.
‘Undetectable equals untransmissible’ – often depicted as ‘U=U’ – is a message that has been definitively backed by the science, and in 2018, confirmed by the World Health Organisation.
U=U is equally relevant in a sporting context: any injury to a HIV positive athlete with a UVL poses absolutely no risk of transmitting the virus to other players and teammates. And this has been the case for quite some time.
In 2019, any stigma attached to HIV is not warranted and is primarily based in drastically outdated, uneducated and illogical fear.
In 2019, any stigma attached to HIV is not warranted and is primarily based in drastically outdated, uneducated and illogical fear.
Within the Australian population of about 25 million there are some – that’s about one person per 1,000.
The shows that about 18.5 million Australians participated in sport during 2018. Of that population, just over 12 million participated through an organisation such as a club, or through a venue like a gym, squash court, pool or sporting ground.
Assuming the same rate of participation for HIV positive persons, that would provide for one person living with HIV per 1,400 participants.
Even before the news came about Gareth Thomas’ positive status, we’ve known that there are HIV positive athletes out there. But sadly as Gareth’s story has shown, with a threat made by a journalist to ‘out’ him, stigma and discrimination remain a constant in the lives of HIV positive people.
ACON Director Steven Berveling reflects on the ongoing challenges of living with HIV in the sporting world. Source: Supplied
This has to end. Not only for athletes, but for anyone living with HIV.
With the collective science confirming that ‘undetectable equals untransmissible’, sports administrators and organisations at every level, whether it be local, state, national or international, can be comfortable with having HIV positive people participating, training and competing.
I heartily congratulate Gareth for the courage to announce that he is living with HIV, and I sincerely hope that it will be as empowering for him as it has been for me.
Any person living with HIV on medication should be able to enjoy sports at any level. Having HIV is not an obstacle to participating or competing in sport, nor is it to leading an incredibly normal and full life.
Steven Berveling is a director of ACON, NSW’s leading HIV and sexuality and gender diverse health organisation.
