Sydney Morning Herald interview with Gay Games Ji Wallace on his HIV status

They Sydney Morning Herald speaks with Ji Wallace about his HIV status HERE.

THE Olympic silver medallist Ji Wallace says finding out he was HIV positive was like "a bomb going off" in his head.

Wallace, the only Australian to have won a medal in gymnastics (silver on the trampoline in Sydney), said he walked around for weeks in a haze of shock and disbelief after learning a year ago he had contracted the virus from his partner at the time.

But Wallace says he has never looked back since that difficult couple of months he spent alone in Canada grappling with his new reality. Which is why he went public this week, inspired by an interview with Greg Louganis, the four-time Olympic diving gold medallist who revealed he was gay and HIV positive in an autobiography in 1995.

"I was in London at the Games and watched Piers Morgan interviewing [Louganis] and it was just such a normal interview and so positive," Wallace said in Sydney after flying home from his role as an ambassador for the Federation of Gay Games.

"I felt like he had come a long way because when Greg came out it was a shock-horror story, quite negative, and it was really nice for him to sit there openly [this week] and talk about it. That night I had trouble sleeping so I wrote to Piers Morgan and said, 'Thanks for treating him well ... it's a big issue and it always will be but you didn't sensationalise anything.' I wanted to say thanks and that I too was an Olympian living with HIV."

The letter, which Wallace also sent to the Sydney Star Observer, a weekly newspaper for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, went viral on the internet and resulted in "literally thousands" of messages of support and gratitude for Wallace.

Read more about Ji Wallace and his HIV status HERE.

Ji Wallace on GaydarRadio

Gay Games Ambassador talks about his Olympic career, his work as a Gay Games Ambassador, Pride House, and Gay Games 9!

Ji Wallace discusses HIV status

We thank Ji for sharing this information with us earlier, and are glad that he has spoken about his HIV status.

The position of the Federation of Gay Games is that just as the best arm against ordinary homophobia is for LGBT people to be out and visible, the best arm against the stigma of HIV/AIDS is visibility and transparency.

This is a personal decision which cannot be judged, but we're pleased that Ji has taken this step.

From the Sydney Star Observer:
Gay Australian Olympian Ji Wallace has publicly revealed his HIV status in a letter sent to the Star Observer.

Wallace, a trampolinist who won a silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, said he was inspired to make the public admission about his diagnosis after seeing an interview given by US diver Greg Louganis about his battle with HIV and being a gay Olympian.

“I have been contemplating writing this for a while,” Wallace said.

“I caught a CNN Piers Morgan interview with Greg Louganis here in London. It made me think and think and I couldn’t sleep, so I wrote.”

Louganis won four gold and a silver medal at the Olympics between 1976 and 1988 before coming out as both gay and HIV-positive in a 1995 autobiography.

“I felt inspired to write. I too am an Olympic medal winner living with HIV,” Wallace said.

“I have never publicly disclosed this before but felt inspired by [the] interview… and by Anderson Cooper’s ‘coming out’ letter last month describing ‘value in being seen and heard’ in the face of disturbing violence, bullying, persecution and condemnation by peers, colleagues, government officials and worst of all family and friends.

“I too have been that victim of these atrocious behaviours. Luckily I managed to come through.”

Wallace is in London to view the men’s trampoline event and as the guest of honour at several functions with the Olympic Pride House for LGBTI athletes.

“I am doing it to raise awareness of this issue. It is still here,” Wallace told the Star Observer.

“Being seen does have value. A voice does have value. I have the support of my boyfriend, my great friends and my loving parents. Many do not and this is, in part, for them.”

Ji Wallace and Emy Ritt interviewed for Karen Hultzer feature

Ji Wallace, Emy Ritt, Karen Hultzer, Shamey Cramer

Belinda Goldsmith from Reuters interviews Gay Games Ambassador Ji Wallace and co-president Emy Ritt for her feature on newly out archer Karen Hultzer:

Aug 5 (Reuters) - South African archer Karen Hultzer hopes coming out as a lesbian at the London Olympics will help people struggling with their sexuality and add to the fight against homophobia in sport.

One of 23 openly gay and lesbian athletes at the London Games, Hultzer waited until after her event to go public.

After finishing 46th out of 64 in the women's archery, she said most athletes were so focused on their performance that they could not fight other battles while competing.

"I hope this gives people some courage. The more we come out and talk about it, the more people should realise that being gay is a non-issue and we can progress," Hultzer, 46, who has only been shooting for five years, told Reuters.

[...]

Ji Wallace, who won a silver medal in the men's trampoline at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and came out in 2005, said there were two key reasons for athletes staying in the closet during their career.

Firstly, most athletes were young, still coming to terms with their sexuality, and often too busy for relationships. Bullying on school sports fields was the start of gay athletes hiding their sexuality as they wanted support from team mates.

Second, it came down to money. Athletes feared losing sponsorship or endorsements if they came out.

"Athletes need to focus totally on themselves and their game so they can chase their dreams and goals," Australian Wallace told Reuters. "It is those of us who have finished competing to fight for future generations."

At London, gay rights campaigners have called on the IOC to uphold the Olympic charter on equality and take a firm stand against homophobia, much as the Olympic movement has tackled racism and sexism.

Emy Ritt, co-president of the Federation of Gay Games, said the campaign had notched up a small victory by successfully lobbying London organisers to sanction the first official gay and lesbian pin featuring a rainbow, the symbol of gay pride.

"In the professional sports world we are seeing more and more athletes coming out because the younger generation sees this as far less of a stigma," Ritt told Reuters.

"But we need to make sure that organisations like the IOC encourage equal rights for gay, lesbian and transgender athletes so they feel safe coming out."

Jonathan Cooper, a barrister and chief executive of human rights organisation Human Dignity Trust, said the Olympics were a good opportunity to highlight the 78 countries around the world where homosexuality was illegal.

"Criminalisation is a major systemic human rights problem. With criminalisation comes HIV, violence and exploitation," said Cooper.

Hultzer, who juggles her six-hour-a-day training with running a landscaping business, hoped athletes coming out as gay would help teenagers who are struggling with their sexuality and found themselves bullied online.

"We need to stand up as role models to show that it is not bad to be gay and it is normal," she told Reuters. (editing by Michael Holden)

Read in full HERE.