While appearing on Oprah's show: Where Are They Now?, Danny Pintauro, Who's the Boss child star revealed he is HIV-positive. His aim on the show was to launch a campaign to raise awareness about the problem in the gay community and to stop what he believes is an oncoming epidemic by sharing his own experiences mixing sex and crystal meth. Full post after cut.............
"I am speaking out because I want everyone who continues to 'tweak' and party to know that it is not worth the price," Pintauro tells PEOPLE. "I want my community to wake up, stop being complacent and start taking care of each other. We need to be the best we can – safe and healthy." Pintauro says he can pinpoint the moment when he contracted HIV in February 2003 to a sexual encounter when he was using meth. His story is not typical – but also not unusual.
Even in the depths of his crystal meth dependency, "I was one of those people who does condom checks," says Pintauro. Growing up in the '80s, when HIV/AIDS was first becoming part of the national conversation and was often explicitly – though misleadingly – labeled a "gay" disease, Pintauro (who chose to come out of the closet in 1997 after the National Enquirer threatened to out him) says that "just having a thought about a man made me feel like I had gotten HIV. I was that guy."
And in the relationship that ultimately led to his HIV-positive status, he says, "Even in the height of having this crazy good time with this guy, I still made him wear a condom." But, as Pintauro wants to make clear, taking every precaution still doesn't protect habitual drug users, especially those abusing crystal meth, from contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
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