Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness: Living With HIV Is 'So Much Harder Than It Has To Be'

Appearing Wednesday on The Late with Stephen Colbert, Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye's grooming person, talked about their recent revelation that they're living with HIV.

In their memoir, Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, Van Ness revealed they're living with HIV. Van Ness, 32, told The New York Times that they were diagnosed as HIV-positive at age 25 after they fainted at a hair salon. They explained that by coming forward they hope to break down the stigma surrounding HIV.

Van Ness said that they felt “very embraced” by the responses they got to the news.

“I think the most meaningful thing that has made me realize is the real lack of understanding that we still have around what it is to live with HIV now, and also the lack of [a] social safety net for HIV-positive people,” they said.

Van Ness added that HIV-positive people continue to face stigma.

“There's no need. We know that with antiretroviral therapy, people that achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load effectively have no chance of transmitting the virus sexually,” Van Ness said.

“I realize, like, just the huge lack of access that people have to information. And the huge lack of support for people living with HIV in America. It is just so much harder than it needs to be,” Van Ness said to applause.