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"It Was A Risk Moving To The Isle Of Wight' - Says Councillor Who Helped HIV Community

Councillor Karl Love and his husband David Hill

An East Cowes Councillor - who moved to the Isle of Wight to support those living with HIV - says it was a "risk" for him and his partner to move to the Island.

Councillor Karl Love has been speaking to Isle of Wight Radio ahead of the last episode of the hit TV show 'It's a Sin' - which airs tonight (Friday).

The show focuses on the impact of Aids/HIV from 1981 to 1991.

It depicts a young gay man called Ritchie Tozer (Olly Alexander) who grew up on the Isle of Wight and moved to London during the crisis.

Cllr Love came to the Isle of Wight to do HIV prevention work on the streets at the time and says "he never looked back".

He told Isle of Wight Radio:

"It was a great risk for me and my and my partner to move to the Isle of Wight knowing that there isn't a great deal here for us - coming from an area just out of Manchester, Halifax. We came here to do HIV prevention work and we did it on the streets and high streets in Ryde.

"Watching the program is a bit like opening a filing cabinet and all of the things you have put in over the years, all that emotional baggage comes screaming out in so many different ways. It was a really good true representative of the fear that existed here. Not only were people frightened of their sexuality, but HIV on top of that and losing their jobs and reputations - a very different world from today."

Cllr Love says the LGBT community was "living in the shadows" at the time.

The last episode airs tonight on Channel 4.

You can watch the trailer below.

 

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