Malkin took a photo op during the ride | Photo: Facebook/Marc Malkin
Marc Malkin, an entertainment journalist based in Los Angeles, revealed he’s HIV-positive after completing his first AIDS/LifeCycle over the weekend.
‘I am back home. Back home after riding my first @aidslifecycle,’ he wrote on Instagram.
‘The ride has left me with many things, but probably the biggest gift I have received is the inspiration to live my truth. On this beautiful day of LGBTQ pride, I have something to say for the first time in such a public forum. I am HIV-positive.’
The LifeCycle is a 7 day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center co-produce and benefit from the ride.
Since it began in 1993, participants have raised more than $200 million.
This year’s ride started 3 June and went to 9 June. Over 2,300 cyclists rode and everyone raised a record of $16.6 million.
Visibility matters
Malkin, who wrote about his uncles who died from AIDS, shared more in his Instagram post about his experience.
‘In short, I lived much of my thirties in confusion, depression and a search to find myself. I partied too much. I struggled with crystal meth,’ he said. Then he revealed he received his HIV diagnosis nine years ago.
‘Today, I am sober and living with HIV.’
He added it was two friends who came out as HIV-positive who convinced him ‘it was time’.
‘Visibility matters,’ he continued. ‘Just ask the men on the ride who told Fabian [one of his friends] that his story inspired them to ride. So, here I am celebrating LGBTQ pride and honoring my Uncle David and my Uncle Arthur by standing up and saying, “I am HIV-positive.”‘
At the end of 2015, an estimated 1.1 million people were living with HIV in the United States according to the CDC.