Karl Schmid, a correspondent for KABC
Channel 7 in Los Angeles who came out HIV-positive earlier this year,
said in a recent interview that being asked if he's “clean” is
offensive and ignorant.
The 38-year-old Schmid, also the host
of On The Red Carpet, came out in a Facebook post.
Speaking with the Star Observer,
Schmid said that we have yet to “move past” the memory of the
early years of the AIDS epidemic.
“The stigma associated with HIV is
one of the main reasons HIV/AIDS is still spreading at an alarming
rate in some parts of the world,” Schmid
said. “The images that were burned into our memory from the
1980s and 1990s were effective at shocking people back then but we
haven’t moved past that and for many, when they think of or hear
the letters HIV, that is all they know.”
“It shocks me and saddens me that
within the younger gay community there is so much stigma and
discrimination towards those of us who live with HIV.”
“To be asked if I am ‘clean’ when
it comes to inquiring about my sexual health and overall health is
not only offensive but it’s incredibly ignorant. It’s time we
have a new and very real conversation about what it means to be
HIV-positive in this day and age and hopefully by me telling my story
I’m helping to facilitate that a little,” he added.