Karl Schmid is on a mission to end HIV stigma… one story & thirst trap at a time
Karl Schmid shows that it's possible to live a healthy and vibrant life with HIV.
Mark
It was a Friday night after work, and Karl Schmid was at The Abbey.
For years, the TV reporter had toyed with disclosing his HIV status. But friends and mentors always advised him against it.
Still, he felt compelled to make a statement.
Wearing a t-shirt for the AIDS Memorial Instagram account, Schmid asked someone to take a picture. Pleased with his aesthetics, he did what any gay would: post!
How about we take this to the next level?
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Except, Schmid didn’t have a great explanation for why he was wearing an AIDS Memorial shirt. He could only think of telling his own story. So that’s what he did.
Then he went to bed.
The following morning, Schmid woke up only to see his post everywhere.
“I had gone viral,” he tells Queerty. “Pardon the pun.”
The Australian-born Schmid has a generous laugh and sharp features–perfect for TV. He moved to L.A. in 2008 and worked as an entertainment correspondent for ABC. But the Alphabet Network wanted to keep him G-rated.
To them, that meant downplaying his positive status. Schmid was told his story wasn’t right for GMA, ABC’s flagship morning show.
He was welcome on the third hour of Today… which was hosted by Megyn Kelly.
Schmid said he had no problem educating the former Fox News firebrand on what it means to be HIV positive. “That’s exactly the audience that we need to be talking to, and she is the kind of person who needs to see this and understand this,” he says.
Today, Schmid highlights people living with HIV every day on his platform Plus Life Media. He wants people with HIV to know that it’s possible to live a healthy and vibrant life.
For his part, Schmid likes to throw in the occasional thirst trap–a practice that ABC management used to discourage.
Luckily for us, he didn’t listen.
“Yeah, they’re kind of thirst trappy,” he says. “But they’re also intentional. They’re intentional to show people that just because you have an HIV diagnosis, you are not dirty and ugly and should hide away and not feel good about your body.”
A regular Queerty InstaStud, Schmid feels great about his–though he says it’s “been a while” since he’s been featured.
We’ll get right on that!
In a rare moment of down time, Queerty recently caught up to Schmid about ending stigmatization, finding love and why he loves showing off in outdoor showers. Here’s what he had to say…
QUEERTY: What’s one thing about living with HIV that people don’t know about?
KARL SCHMID: That it’s just like living at any time in your life, except we are uniquely stigmatized. Even in this day and age. But on a day-to-day level, I recently turned 46 (gulp)! I take a cholesterol pill in the morning, I take an anti-acid pill in the morning. So what’s one more pill? I get up at 4:30, I feed the dog..
Wow, 4:30!
4:30, feed the dog, go to the gym, work out, try to be as healthy as I can. You just get on life and live your life. You can live a completely normal and happy and healthy life.
What’s your fitness routine?
I wish it was exciting. It’s not. But typically I get up, I’m at the gym by 5:00. I like to get it out of the way. God bless the people who can go to the gym at 8:00 p.m. No way! I’ve got this app I use on my phone—I’ll give them a shoutout, Shred—it gives me my workouts. I do cardio, I lift my weights. I have a shower and I go to work. I’m Australian, I grew up very active as a kid. There were a lot of sports in my life: swimming, gymnastics, track and field. I spent part of my life living in Fiji, so I’ve always been active. … I also like going to the gym because it’s my time. I go in, I put my music on, my baseball cap down, I don’t like to have a chitty chat. I’m not “Cathy have a chat at the gym.” I go in, and it’s my time. There’s something therapeutic about that. But it’s not that exciting. Sorry.
Well, some of your thirst traps would beg to differ…
Thank you for acknowledging my thirst traps! Can we talk about those for a minute? I used to get in quite a lot of trouble with my previous employer. They didn’t like them.
Yeah, they’re kind of thirst trappy. But they’re also intentional. They’re intentional to show people that just because you have an HIV diagnosis, you are not dirty and ugly and should hide away and not feel good about your body. There’s intent behind them. Look, it’s gratifying to get the recognition. But I know that so many people living with HIV look at my content and what I post, I get so many messages back that go, “Thank you. I’ve been living with HIV for 35 years at this point—I haven’t told anyone about it—but I see your stuff and it just makes me feel good.”
So yes, they’re thirst traps, and I’m always grateful when I’m a Queerty InstaStud. Though it’s been a while, I will say!
You definitely aren’t afraid to do that! I see those outdoor shower pics…
You know what? I used to post a message with the shower pics, and it still happens with homosexuals: “Are you clean?” It’s like, stop with the “are you clean?” question. Yes, look at my Instagram. I’m showering in exotic locations around the world. I am squeaky clean, MF’er!
You told me earlier that you’ve traveled 73,500 miles over the last three months. What’s one item that you can’t travel without?
Electrolytes. A packet of electrolytes. There’s a brand I use that I found years ago when I started going to India. What else is in the big? My HIV meds, I guess. They’re helpful!
You’ve also mentioned your boyfriend Noé. You guys are such a cute couple! How did you meet?
We met on Hinge. I was off all the apps, and I haven’t been on the hookup apps in a long time. That part of my life is over there somewhere. But yeah, it was Hinge. I wasn’t sure he liked me very much on the first date. I tease him about it. He’s never given me a definitive answer. He keeps me hanging, which I think is a little bit cruel! But he’s stuck around. He just graduated nursing school and has become licensed to work in a hospital and be a nurse—or alternatively just take care of me as I start breaking down in life. But yeah, he’s hung around!
When I get diagnosed with HIV, I thought there would be no one. Then I met my current boyfriend, and I don’t know what it was. He’s a gift from heaven. We just connected. And all of this very self-destructive stuff I was doing in my life—because I thought that was the best way for me to plow through all of this—just went away. I realized I am capable of being loved, and more importantly, that I’m capable of loving and allowing myself to do that.
What do you do for fun?
Lots of things! Fun for me is stopping and being present in the moment… being with my dog, being with my boyfriend, being with family when I get the chance. That is fun. I also love going to the theater. I love traveling, obviously. But my work is fun for me. What I do is fun. I’ve been really blessed in that regard. I really, genuinely love what I do, and I’m passion about what I do. I know that you’re the same. It comes through in our work. For me, my work is also fun.
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