Sexual health/HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust responds to announcement that newly appointed patron of the charity Gareth Thomas is to be awarded a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to health and sport.
Sexual health/HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has responded to the announcement that newly appointed patron of the charity Gareth Thomas is to be awarded a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to health and sport.
Gareth is a former Wales rugby captain, became the very first openly gay professional rugby player in 2009 and spoke publicly about living with HIV in 2019.
Ian Green, Chief Executive at THT, said: “Gareth absolutely deserves this honour in recognition of all he’s done as a world class sportsperson to champion equality and inclusion, including for all of those living with HIV and the LGBTQ+ community. We’re very proud to have Gareth as our patron at THT and he deserves all of the accolades that he gets for his tireless efforts to make the world a better place for all of us.
“Since speaking publicly about his HIV status a year ago, Gareth has engaged so many people from all walks of life in the huge strides made in the fight against HIV – as well as the stigma and discrimination that remains. He’s an incredible role model showing that HIV needn’t hold anyone back from living their life to the full.”
