While our communities were dying of AIDS, the Greater Manchester Chief Constable, James Anderton, condemned us as ‘swirling around in a cesspit of our own making.’ He used his powers to intimidate and persecute us, driven by his belief that it was God’s work. This apology is overdue and welcome.

LOVE Gay Santa! In 2021 the Norwegian Postal Service released this advert to mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The kiss is 😍! 🏳️‍🌈🎅😘🧸🇳🇴

Twice yearly PrEP injections (lencapavir) is fine for people on gender affirming hormone therapy. Globally, trans women are among those at greatest risk of acquiring HIV so this is really good news. 💜

What a surprise! Big corporates decide #LGBTQ+ Pride isn’t so important to them now it’s inconvenient. 🙄

Trump, and his medically illiterate henchman RFK Jr, are trying to legislate transgender and nonbinary people out of existence. They won’t succeed - there always have been and there always will be trans people - but the attempt will result in trans people suffering.

Nearly 1 in 6 LGBTQ+ people report being threatened with or subjected to conversion practices. Conversion practices are unscientific, ineffective and inflict actual harm on individuals. It’s time for the Government to stop delaying and publish the draft Bill. Please share. #BanConversionPractices

Wannabe matinee idol (circa 1994).

Today would have been my father’s birthday. He found out I was gay in the homophobic 80s, when he caught me in bed with my boyfriend. He was upset but he accepted me. I was lucky. Many never felt able to tell their parents. Others experienced cruelty or rejection, bonds broken and never mended.

It’s so refreshing to hear an MP acknowledge that the true disgrace of trans healthcare isn’t the mythical children being hurried into surgery (it DOESN’T HAPPEN!) but the years and years that trans people have to wait to be seen for affirmative care. Thank you Nadia. 💜

Let's see you at 21.

This is now the 8th Xmas since the UK Government committed to banning #LGBTQ+ conversion practices. I’m one of many calling on the Government to publish a draft Bill before the end of this Parliamentary session, as promised. Another year of delay is another year of preventable harm and suffering.

Rest in peace Gil Gerard. Many boys realised they were gay thanks to you.

Hold fast to the ones you love.

Today is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Laws that criminalise sex work don’t prevent sex work, they just make it more difficult for sex workers to work safely. #DecrimNow

Anyone can become disabled. Anyone can become chronically ill. It’s not a choice. It’s not a moral failing. It’s not something you can “try harder” your way out of. You can be the healthiest person in the world & completely disabled in an instant. It’s a minority group you can join anytime.

At the @queertheatreuk.bsky.social Festive Feast and Awards. I didn’t win anything this year (hey, I got Best Actor last year, I can’t complain) but you can see in picture 2 how emotional I got just being nominated - if I’d won I’d have been a blubbering mess.

Hegsgeth and Trump seek to overturn ruling that people with HIV can serve in the military.

This story demonstrates that Rob Reiner’s death deprives us all not only of an extraordinarily talented filmmaker but also of a good and generous person.

A friend of a friend to me last week: You used to be hench. What happened?

Sad to hear of the death of Rob Reiner. Not only did he direct a dozen classic movies (Spinal Tap, Misery, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally and my fave, The Princess Bride) he was a fighter for equality, His Foundation for Equal Rights paved the way for marriage equality in California and the US.

Timeline cleanse: two squirrels grooming each other… or maybe it’s a sub/dom thing, who knows?

Jesus: I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in. (Matthew 25:35). Protestors on the Tommy Robinson ‘Put the Christ Back into Christmas’ rally carrying a sign that reads ‘Stop the Boats’.

Even in the midst of the homophobic 1980s, when Section 28 was spawned, I don’t recall any BBC freelancer being hauled off the air for expressing support for gay people.

New ONS data on sexuality just released. Our increasingly queer future is just about the one thing that gives me hope right now.

“I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them knowing that I had erased their existence from CDC.” - HIV doc John Weiser on why he quit the CDC rather than be complicit in the erasure of trans people.

I’m 58 years old. I’ve been living with diagnosed HIV for over 27 years. HIV is a virus, not a limitation.

💥 Seventy thousand women have now signed our letter. Seventy thousand women saying clearly that exclusion is not in our name and that trans people deserve dignity, safety and belonging. 🙏 Sign and share: notinourname.org.uk #NotInOurName #Love #Inclusion #WomenUnite

National treasure and icon, Dame Judi Dench, turns 91 today. I once, briefly, shared a bed with her. Sadly, the explanation is less exciting than the statement.

‘Organisations that value trans people should know not just that the law is on their side – but so, also, are many people who will step up to defend them if they have the courage to take a stand.’ - Jess O’Thomson of the Good Law Project. 💜

I do “Hodson, D for donkey, S for sugar…”

‘The Grand Duke walked arm in arm with me to my room, kissed me lovingly, asked me always to love him, to stay with him… Fell asleep with the melancholy, happy feeling that I was the guest of this strange prince at his castle and loved by him… It is like a fairy tale.’ - Hans Christian Andersen.

1990: Before Scruff or Grindr, or mobiles or the internet, we used personal ads in newspapers and magazines to meet, particularly if you couldn’t get to a gay venue / cruising area. My first, glamorous, job in publishing was sorting through the Gay Times Classified Ad responses and mailing them on.

Please look after these bears. 🐻 🙏🐻

2.5 million people with HIV have lost access to life-saving treatment as a result of Trump’s cuts to the global HIV programme. It’s estimated that this has already resulted in an additional 100,000 AIDS deaths this year.

250+ LGBTQ people were subjected to Electric Shock Aversion Therapy in NHS hospitals between 1965 and 1972. That’s (literally) shocking, right? What’s also shocking is that so called ‘conversion therapy’ is still legal in the UK now. It’s beyond time that all LGBTQ conversion practices were banned.

Tell me again that HIV stigma is a thing of the past.

“We need to move to a place around HIV, without delay, stigma or shame, where people are able to talk openly about their experiences.” @zackpolanski.bsky.social speaks with insight and compassion about #UequalsU, testing, PrEP and tackling stigma in this interview focussed on HIV. 👏👏👏

An extract from Sebastian, performed by me and Sam Jarman at the @queertheatreuk.bsky.social showcase in July. Sebastian is a short play that I wrote, prompted by the early deaths of three close friends in 2022. Video by @boyangeorgiev.com.

“The time is little that thou hast to stay And therefore, give me leave to look my fill.” As the queer King, Edward II, in Marlowe’s play at the @queertheatreuk.bsky.social showcase last week. With Dan Waterhouse and Emily Brandon as Piers Gaveston and Queen Isabella.

Now is the time for parents who believe in fairness and inclusion to be heard. By signing the Transparent Pledge, you add your voice to a growing community standing up for trans and non-binary young people. If you share these values, join us... ✍️ Sign here: tinyurl.com/TransparentAction

Went for a run in the dark because a) the days are really short and b) I’m dead hard.

I’ve been working with @shareeastlondon.bsky.social on a project on healthcare guidance for people living with HIV in Europe. If this is you (HIV+, in Europe) please take part - it takes 10 minutes and the results should help improve treatments for us all. bit.ly/4oqzvCG

Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.

After years of decline, Trump’s cuts to HIV/AIDS funding, mirrored by the UK and others, mean that AIDS death and HIV infections are rising again. #WorldAIDSDay

I don’t feel, as someone living with HIV, that I am lesser than other people. Make Stigma History. #WorldAIDSDay

Medical science vs HIV has been one of the most satisfying fights to see over the years, and medical science winning in about 4 different ways is simply incredible

The stigma that persists around HIV creates barriers to testing, treatment and effective prevention. Ending HIV stigma is crucial to ending the HIV epidemic. Make Stigma History. #WorldAIDSDay.

Today is #WorldAIDSDay please purchase your #RedRibbon today! I always wear my Red Ribbon in this very day for all those who have HIV & died from it! Grab one today! @matthewhodson.bsky.social is a #SURVIVOR!🏳️‍🌈❤️🙏🏼 Thank you to @tht.org.uk for awareness #SeeRed #RockTheRibbon #HIV #ThereIsHelp #AidsDay