City Council Speaker Corey Johnson posted a string of emotional and personal tweets recounting his struggle with drugs and alcohol and marking the day 14 years ago when he learned he was HIV-positive, thanking the “brave activists” who saved his life.
“Tomorrow is the first day of October and 14 years ago this week I found out I was HIV positive,” Johnson wrote on his account Sunday evening. “I was 22 years old and in the moment and for the days and months and even years following my doctor giving me that news I lived with shame and fear and anxiety.”
Johnson said he wasn’t intending to post the thread but then he realized the anniversary of his diagnosis was near and he believed sharing his story would help others.
“I am blown away by the positive reaction and all the retweets,” he said in a statement Monday. “It’s important for people who are in the place I was in 14 years ago to hear my story and know that there is life – a full, happy, wonderful life – after diagnosis. I am grateful every day and take nothing for granted.”
In the tweets, he described how he lost his job and health insurance and wasn’t sure where to turn until his doctor referred him to the Apicha Health Center in Chinatown, where he met “this incredible woman named Shefali,” his caseworker.
“She was vibrant and loving and reassuring and with zero judgment just compassion,” he said.
Johnson, 36, who has previously disclosed that he’s HIV-positive, wrote that he tries to use his position to help others in similar struggles and lessen the stigma of HIV/AIDS, and credited those who paved the way for him.
“Thank you to ACT-UP and all the brave activists who made all of this possible for me. I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for you,” he continued. “And thank you Shefali for your kindness and compassion … You helped me more than I can express.”