The dashing Nicholas Snow, 61, has worn many hats in his life: international journalist, actor, author (Life Positive: A Journey to the Center of My Heart). He cut his activist teeth while still studying at Arizona State University at the beginning of the AIDS crisis. In the early 1990s, he created a public access television show called Tinseltown’s Queer, which he hosted for seven years. And all of this before he seroconverted.

“I was living in Thailand, acting in movies and working as a foreign correspondent for my own website, Notes From Hollywood, at the time. In 2007, in a rare slip in my safer-sex behavior, I became HIV positive,” he says.

The slip occurred with someone he trusted, someone who had told Snow he was HIV negative. Snow believes that his slip stemmed from his own isolation, depression and loneliness. “In my sharing since then, I stress why it’s not a good idea to have [unprotected] sex with someone based on their own beliefs of their HIV status.”

After taking time to absorb his diagnosis, Snow came forward and told his story publicly. “Because of my roots in activism,” he says, “I endeavored to go public with my story, which I did at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand.” Snow went on to work with a prominent music producer in Thailand to develop a music video campaign promoting HIV testing and safer-sex practices, which was available in 21 languages. “For a time, I was one of the most visible HIV-positive people in Asia,” he says.

Snow eventually moved back to the United States and settled in Palm Springs, California, in 2011. “I was on the edge of homelessness, with no health care, very little money, no car and very few possessions,” he says. He became a client of DAP Health, which helped him access the health care, housing and community he needed.

The multitalented Snow hasn’t stopped creating. He’s still pursuing acting. He runs the website PromoHomo.TV, where his content garners hundreds of thousands of views worldwide, and in 2020, he expanded to an online TV network.

Bringing things full circle, Snow marked the 30-year anniversary of Tinseltown’s Queer at the Palm Springs Cultural Center on April 28—30 years to the day after his first broadcast—with a screening of highlights from his years of activism.

“When I talk about my life,” he says, “I feel like I’m talking about someone else. It’s kind of hard for me to believe that this is the life that I’m living and that I’ve lived it.” But despite a life lived out loud, the stigma of HIV can still sting.

“I’ve gone public about my HIV status so many times. When I decide to participate on dating apps, I’m always forthcoming about my status. That’s always my choice. There’s still a tremendous amount of rejection that happens there,” he says. “One of the things that I believe is the best medicine for anybody is to tell your truth. We’re all in this together.”

Correction: The print edition of this article had an incorrect date for Snow’s 30th anniversary celebration and incorrectly stated that his book was available in 21 languages.