Karl Schmid: HIV Stigma Is 'Real, Unnecessary'

During an appearance on Megyn Kelly TODAY, Karl Schmid talked about his decision to come out HIV-positive.

Schmid, a 38-year-old correspondent for KABC Channel 7 in Los Angeles and the host of On The Red Carpet, came out earlier this year in a Facebook post.

Schmid talked to host Megyn Kelly about being HIV-positive and the stigma that continues to surround the disease.

“The immediate emotion [after receiving the diagnosis] was, 'Oh my gosh, I've let my parents down,'” Schmid said. “And I think that it's hard enough to be a gay male and come out to your family. But I think that most parents, they find out their son is gay, one of the immediate fears is, 'Now he's going to get AIDS.'”

“So many of us have this image in their head of very ill people, sometimes handcuffed to a hospital bed, people in gowns and masks, doctors and nurses who refuse to go near them. We have this fear and this idea that that's what it is.”

“But this is HIV-positive in 2018,” Schmid said, pointing to himself.

“This stigma is real and it is unnecessary,” he added after recalling a story about a man who was cut off from his sister and her family after he disclosed his status to her.

Doctor Antonio Urbina shared with the audience that an HIV-positive person with an undetectable viral load has a “zero” chance of transmitting the disease.

“If you take your medications, you're undetectable, you cannot transmit the virus,” Urbina said.