Karl Schmid De-Stigmatizes the Conversation Around HIV

For entertainment reporter and activist Karl Schmid, having conversations about HIV is the only way to reduce its stigma. Since publicly opening up about his status, he has curated a space dedicated to the diverse array of HIV narratives, where he tells his own story and inspires others to do the same. On his digital platform, +Life, he interviews people who are HIV-positive and explores the varied experiences overcoming shame, disclosing status, and dismantling attitudes about sex. Recognized by GLAAD two years in a row, Schmid’s work on and off camera is informative, poignant, and saves lives.

Originally from Australia, Schmid has been in and out of showbiz since he was 7-years old.

“It’s all I’ve ever known,” he says. “I’ve jumped from being in front of the camera to behind the camera to producing stuff to writing stuff, and – long-story-short – it ultimately brought me to Los Angeles.”

Here, Schmid joined ABC’s entertainment brand, “On the Red Carpet”, where for the next ten years he was immersed in Hollywood’s haste and glamour.

Where everybody knows everybody, there was one thing Schmid kept secret: his HIV-status.

Well-meaning friends warned him it would hurt his career. They said things like “you don’t want to talk about that” or “you don’t want to be known as the guy with AIDS on television”. So heavy was his internalized stigma he decided to believe them.

“Little did I realize that the stigma and, more importantly and dangerously, the internalized stigma I had about HIV actually was affecting my job and who I was,” he says.

So, in 2018, Schmid logged on to Facebook and publicly disclosed his HIV status. The news went viral.

Schmid’s announcement was met with overwhelming positivity and informative conversations. (He learned about U=U, for example, which means that if you’re HIV-positive and undetectable, you can’t actually transmit the virus.)

This reaction ignited in him a desire to continue the conversation, to reframe how people think about HIV and perhaps even celebrate it. Thus, he founded +Life, a multi-platform brand that spans all mainstream social media channels.

“Beyond fighting stigma, +Life celebrate[s] those moments where people have found themselves down in the mud [thinking], ‘I don’t want to get up, I don’t think I can get up,’ but something happens, and they do,” Schmid says. “And in [celebrating] that, we help overcome not just HIV stigma but all kinds of taboos…we didn’t think we could conquer because we were too afraid or ashamed.”

+Life – different from other blogs and websites dedicated to HIV — utilizes the power of real-life conversations to illustrate HIV’s diverse landscape.

Schmid hosts an episodic segment called +Talk; each episode features a different exchange of views, from the latest scientific advancements to sex and dating. And disagreement is encouraged! He has sat down with a single mother of three who lives with HIV, Dr. Fauci, and even his own parents.

Focusing in on first-hand experiences, people who live with HIV have the opportunity to talk about how they feel, what they’ve gone through, and the everyday obstacles of real life. Overcoming stigma and processing shame looks different for each guest, but as a whole, the show gives these stories value and people heal as a result.

“From age 27 to 37, I was in this downward spiral. I had a very unhealthy opinion of myself and thus … treated myself with great disrespect, and it did a real number on me. And that takes a lot of undoing,” Schmid says. “I’m hopeful what we do with +Life is [prevent] other young people who get diagnosed [from] feeling that way.”

Whether you’re HIV-positive or not, joining the current conversation will break down the stigmatized, unfair, and often grotesque idea of HIV that calls on 1980s New York as reference.

From Schmid’s view, HIV’s reputation is judged more ‘shameful’ than other diseases – like cancer or diabetes – because it’s predominantly spread through sexual intercourse or intravenous drug use. Americans, whose history starts with the Puritans and ends with a lack of comprehensive sex education, largely stigmatize sex from the start. So, the root of HIV stigma in the United States likely goes deeper.

“We need to discuss sex, and nobody wants to do that,” Schmid says. “Sex is the one thing we actually all have in common, whether we’re dogs, cats, fish, [or] plants. It’s as natural as breathing!”

Schmid has been having successful conversations on the red carpet for many years, but it’s these conversations for +Life that have left a more meaningful mark on his career. Last year, GLAAD nominated a +Talk episode with Reverend Steve Pieters, an HIV-positive pastor who survived the AIDs epidemic. Another +Talk episode is nominated this year.

“To be recognized by GLAAD is a huge honor,” Schmid says. “They do phenomenal work.”

As for what to expect in 2023, Schmid hopes to take +Life on a tour of the American South. He has a documentary underway that covers children born with HIV in India. Wherever the collaboration takes him, Schmid will certainly continue re-writing the narrative about HIV.

“If someone today tell you they’ve got cancer, you run towards them and embrace them,” Schmid says. “In 2023, someone tells you they’re HIV-positive, people still take a step back.”

Progress takes time and the work carries on.