Ji Wallace, an Australian gay Olympian, has publicly revealed that he is HIV positive. The reveal was in the form of a letter, sent to the news publication Star Observer after being inspired by a television interview of US diver Greg Louganis on CNN’s Piers Morgan.
According to Wikipedia, Ji Wallace won several Australian national titles and made an international breakthrough in 1996 by winning gold in the DMT (double mini trampoline) discipline at the 19th Trampoline World Championships in Vancouver.
“I have been contemplating writing this for a while,” Wallace said to the Star Observer.
“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… 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.”
“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.”
Wallace is currently an observer for the men’s trampoline event in the London 2012 Summer Olympics, and is guest of honor for several LGBT events held in London for gay and lesbian Olympians.
It’s a lot of courage to reveal a desease that is still criminalized and discriminated by many institutions in America and most other 1st world countries. Unlike being gay, being hiv positive can have criminal consiquenses if a bitter ex lover will accuse you of an exposure to hiv… or it can be used as a factor in a custody battle as well. In other words, if you can not hire an expensive lawyer, don’t disclose anything like this to the world. Current laws do not protect hiv+ people. These are emerging issues that many HIV+ folks are finding out about the hard way. Google seroproject, or just search for hiv criminalization.
Isn’t he AustrALIAN?
Oh please, do your research better!
I think you’ll find he’s Australian not Austrian.
Austrian or Australian?
“Wallace is the winner of four gold and one silver medals at the 1979 and 1988 Olympics. He came out as gay in 1995 in his autobiography.”
NO! Greg Louganis came out in 1995 as a gay. And he won gold medals in the Olympics in 1984 and 1988. Not in 1979, pretty obvious since there weren’t any Olympics that year.
Wallace was born in 1977. He won silver in the 2000 Sydney games.