Rugby Star Gareth Thomas Opens Up About HIV, Fitness

He's been openly gay for a decade and openly poz for just a couple of months, but Welsh rugby great Gareth Thomas hasn't let anyone's biases or preconceptions slow him down.

As previously reported here at EDGE, the 45-year-old athlete became one of the highest profile sports figures to come out as gay when he burst from the closet ten years ago. This past September, Thomas - facing the prospect of being outed as HIV+ by others - decided to come out once again, and do it in his own terms.

It wasn't long after his announcement of being poz and his appearance in an emotional interview with the BBC - in which he said, "I'm trying to educate and break the stigma for everybody, which includes me in that everybody" - that fitness magazine Men's Health approached Thomas for a cover shoot.

Thomas, as fit and buff as ever, posed shirtless for the magazine, his muscles and tattoos on full view - along with his happy confidence.

Thomas had this to say in speaking with Men's Health:

"When I came out as gay, I always wanted to show a sign of strength, I'd always fight to be the strongest.

"Then, when I decided that I was going to take control of my life, I felt I needed to show another side of me, as far as fitness goes. So, I took that fitness to another level, because my mental images of people living with HIV were always frail, always weak. I wanted to display the total opposite of that."

Thomas made his comments after demonstrating that his strength and stamina are not illusions reliant on well-defined muscles; he recently completed an Ironman event in Wales, taking 12 hours and 18 minutes to accomplish the feat.

So much for much-peddled fantasies from haters and homophobes. Gareth Thomas is living proof of what an out, proud gay man can do when he shrugs off prejudice, rejects poisonous messages, and embraces his own strong, authentic nature.

Still, his journey has not been without its moments of doubt.

Thanks to modern antiretroviral treatment regimens, people living with HIV can and do live full, healthy lives. Moreover, those on an effective regimen do not pass the virus on to others.

But Thomas didn't necessarily know this when he first learned his own HIV status. "When I first found out that I was going to have to live with HIV, the first thing I thought was straight away: I was going to die," he recalled in an interview.

Thomas has proved to be a fount of strength and compassion. Late last year, after he was the target of a homophobic attack by a 16-year-old perpetrator, Thomas requested that the youth be offered the chance of restorative justice rather than incarcerated for his act of violence.

Thomas is also the author of a memoir, "Proud," in which he describes his struggle with internalized homophobia and his journey toward a life of authenticity.

Coming out a second time, and facing lingering stigma around HIV, may have seemed daunting, but Thomas has received widespread support, including a message from Prince Harry.

In his interview with the BBC, Thomas said, "I'm trying to educate and break the stigma for everybody, which includes me in that everybody."

Added the athlete, "I want to empower so many other people who are in exactly the same position as me, and probably 10 times worse."

Watch Thomas' BBC interview below.