Mykki Blanco reveals HIV positive status

Queer musician Mykki Blanco has revealed that he is HIV positive, on his official Facebook page.

The rapper and performance artist – real name Michael Quattlebaum Jr – is well known on the LGBT scene where he performs as both male and female, having released a handful of EPs and mixtapes.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Blanco revealed he has been HIV Positive since 2011, and said he wanted to share the news to “fuck stigma”, and “to actually be as punk as i say I am.” He later added comments acknowledging that the news would not go down well in the music industry.

Blanco has previously appeared in Attitude, notably with a full feature in the August 2013 issue, where he discussed his alternative style and image. “I have struggled too much, I’ve been gay bashed too much, I have had to fight too hard to ever deny who I am.”