Billy Porter has recalled the “worst year of his life” after he was diagnosed with diabetes, filed for bankruptcy and learned he was HIV positive over the course of five months.
The Pose actor shared that he survived “a lot of trauma” after coming out at 16 and grew up being “essentially cursed” for being a gay black man.
Reflecting on his life to date, the 54-year-old said that the fact he has survived this long as “an accomplishment”.
The Emmy, Grammy and Tony winning star said he hoped his experience can show others that they can get through dark times.
Speaking on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, he began: “I’ve lived through a lot of trauma. I came out in 1985 when I was 16 years old.
“We went straight to the front lines to fight for our lives during the AIDS crisis. I was diagnosed with HIV in 2007, I grew up in an environment that essentially cursed me.
“I grew up in the black church. They told me from their pulpits as often as they could that I would never be blessed,” he added.
“The structure of our societies that look at me as a black man and look at me as a gay man and completely dismiss me from existence on the planet as a human being, all of these things weigh into my art.
“The only way I know how to respond is through my art and inside of the art. I’m alive – what an accomplishment. I’m not supposed to be here.
“2007 was the worst year of my life. February, I was diagnosed with diabetes, March I had to file for bankruptcy and by June I was HIV positive. I had become the statistic that they all said I would be.
“And guess what? None of that matters. None of the rhetoric has any credibility anymore because this is what all of that looks like now,” he continued.
“This is what the queen looks like. This is what the diabetic looks like. This is what the HIV positive looks like. This is what bankruptcy looks like. This is what it looks like.
“We can all transcend whatever befalls us, get back up again. We fall down, but we get up.”
Porter first spoke publicly about his HIV diagnosis in 2021, previously explaining that he kept it secret for over a decade out of fear that it would harm his career.
