Interview: Jonathan Blake (Pt. 2)

Activist Jonathan Blake, born in Birmingham, was diagnosed with HIV in 1982. He was given the number ‘L1’ (London 1), and is, today, one of the UK’s oldest surviving people living with HIV. In part one of our interview with Jonathan, he talked about growing up in Birmingham, coming out, and his love of theatre, in this part of the interview, he talks predominately about HIV.

Jonathan Blake and partner Nigel Young after their first haircuts after Covid-19 lockdown ended 2021

“What is also extraordinary is that my younger brother who had gone to Oxford, then got into the civil service actually decided that he never wanted to be in the civil service, he always wanted to be a doctor. He went back to Birmingham medical school and trained there and then came up to London,” Jonathan tells Midlands Rainbow.

His brother eventually ended up working at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital which houses the Kobler clinic; a centre of excellence in HIV.

“When I got my diagnosis very early on in October ’82, I was able to tell him [my brother] that I was HIV positive because I knew that when I got ill, and of course I was going to get ill because everybody did, he would be able to explain to my parent the realities of it because I just felt, they had dealt with me coming out, and I really didn’t want to have to deal with them coping with the fact that I was HIV positive. As it was, my mother predeceased my father, and my father died before I actually presented with anything that needed discussion. When my father died, I did actually tell my elder brother – because we hadn’t spoken for about 30 years.”

“I was diagnosed at the Middlesex which was, of course, famous for the Diana handshake which completely changed a lot but there was still the wilful misinformation by the press. What has been extraordinary is that the ‘Don’t die of Ignorance’ campaign that the government created, I hated it because it was so full of fear, and I understand that you need to create fear to make people sit up and listen but I think that stigma is actually the biggest problem which has dogged HIV. It’s stigma that kills, not the virus.”

Princess Diana shook hands with an unidentified person living with AIDS on April 19, 1987. John Redman/AP

In the late 80s, there was a trial called the Concorde trial, for AZT (a failed chemotherapy drug) which Jonathan refused to be part of, he believes that this decision is a factor in his survival.

“I think one of the reasons that I’m still here today is that I didn’t touch AZT because I know a lot of people who did and some of them were so nauseous that they took themselves off it and they survived but everybody else, they died. They died because all chemotherapy drugs wipe out your immune system, well the virus is already doing that, so it leaves you open to any opportunistic infection.”

“I think also, I’ve been fortunate in that my parents must have given me some pretty strong genes because I can’t see why [I survived].

 Jonathan and his partner, Nigel - 1996 Gay Pride Clapham Common kissing in front of THT's first Campaign aimed at gay men re Safer Sex featuring Jonathan

While Jonathan hated the ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ campaign for its fear-mongering, and the right-wing press for its spreading of misinformation, he added: “One of the amazing things about the ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ campaign was that they did the campaign but also Norman Fowler gave money to the pharmaceutical companies to research and develop drugs, and also he gave money to drop-in centres.

“So, there was this amazing place called the London Lighthouse, which on the fifth floor had basically a hospice where people could go and die with dignity. But the whole way of nursing around HIV and AIDS has completely changed the way that nursing is now practised, which is extraordinary but it’s rarely discussed.

“In 1997, viral load testing came in, where they could test the amount of virus that there was in a centilitre of blood. If there had not been viral load testing for HIV, there would be no PCR tests for Covid, is that ever discussed? Is it ever talked about? HIV is this forgotten epidemic, it’s almost like there was nothing between Covid and the Spanish Flu but I remember that there was. It’s extraordinary that a.) it can be so forgotten and yet b.) that there are so many important things that came about because of HIV.”

“For me, the stigma basically came from this fear that was created around the ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ campaign because if you listen to the actual words, what John Hurt actually says is ‘This is a virus, it can affect anybody’ but because of the way the press treated and weaponised it as being ‘gay men, gay men, gay men’ that kind of starts to create stigma.

1987 'AIDS. Don't Die Of Ignorance'. Colour offset lithograph poster. Part of a government campaign to stop the spread of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). (image from the V&A Collection)

“The stigma comes from this misinformation so the more that people talk about it the more we will challenge it. And interestingly, I’m going to be 75 on 21st July this year, which has been designated Global Zero HIV Stigma Day, so there’s a big campaign that is being mounted. Hopefully, more and more people will be talking about it and be open.

“What’s really important is that it is so simple to test. My message really to anybody is to be brave, test, know your status, and certainly in this country, what is amazing is that it doesn’t matter what your status in this country is, you can be a refugee, you can be an asylum seeker, what have you, if you present with HIV you get access to the medication.”

In part three of the interview Jonathan talks about Lesbian and Gays support the Miners (LGSM), and the film inspired by those events; Pride. In part one, Jonathan talked about growing up in Birmingham, his love of theatre, and reclaiming his Brummy roots.

Unless stated otherwise, all images courtesy of Jonathan Blake.