After kicking off a pub with his husband following his HIV diagnosis, Gareth Thomas has revealed the heartbreaking remarks he has received.
Former rugby player Gareth Thomas invited his family to share his debut garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, admitting his HIV diagnosis is “hard for my whole family”. Husband Stephen Williams-Thomas finds he is praised as a “great man” for marrying the star.
Gareth says unflinchingly, “You’re a faulty good.” Gareth, 50, endures negative comments, including about him helping in the kitchen, despite the fact that the couple own a pub called Ty-risha in Bridgend.
In the event Gareth peels the chips, someone said, “I’m not going there for food.” And I thought, “Well, why wouldn’t he come here?” in the event that he cuts his finger.
That is a discriminatory statement, but it is merely due to his ignorance and lack of knowledge. Gareth, whose flower show features the Tackle HIV Challenging Stigma garden, claims to remain “behind the bar.”
“I’m fully hands on,” he says. “There’s interaction with society, the bar is almost like a security. “I can pull the perfect pint, though some people actually said to me that it looked like a map of the world when I tried to do a shamrock.”
The Welsh rugby union star was diagnosed with HIV in 2012, and revealed to the Sunday Mirror that he had contracted the virus in an emotional interview in 2019.
But he discovers that whenever he talks about the problem, he is subject to more discrimination. Gareth has received death threats for his efforts to end HIV stigma, but he still believes in his campaigning role.
People scream in my face, he says, but I see it as an opportunity for them to learn. It’s never solved if someone approaches you with hatred and you turn around with it.
Hatred can lead to more hostility, the saying goes. If someone approaches me with hatred and I return with love, the person’s hatred is almost gone.
“And I don’t want to be the person who returns with hatred,” she said. I want to stand up for the neighborhood. He continues, “Sadly, we live in a world where I must constantly evaluate my surroundings.” I can now count on my family to support me.
“But I put everything into playing rugby. So I put everything into being a campaigner as I did through my rugby. I have that mentality. If you make me the underdog, then I’ll come back until you make me the favourite. I want to be an example.”
Last week, his parents and his partner, Stephen, made a VIP visit to his garden. Gareth claimed that running water was crucial for him in order to replicate the impact that nature had had on him when he was struggling with his diagnosis.
When I was suicidal, he said, “nature saved me.”
* Manoj Malde’s design for the Tackle HIV Challenging Stigma Garden was featured at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2025.
Tackle HIV is a campaign led by Gareth Thomas in partnership with ViiV Healthcare, with Terrence Higgins Trust as the charity partner, which aims to tackle the stigma and misunderstanding around HIV. For more information visit tacklehiv.org and follow @tacklehiv
Source: Mirror
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