Conchita Wurst

[widdlytinks]

Is this strange to anyone else? Conchita Wurst has come out as being diagnosed with HIV, and the news reporting is using female pronouns throughout the story. Except Thomas Neuwirth has said he's not transgender, doesn't think of himself as a woman, and Conchita is a drag act.

Surely Thomas Neuwirth, a MAN, has the diagnosis, not his alter ego? Conchita could have any or no health concerns, depending what Thomas fancies?

Conchita Wurst reveals HIV diagnosis www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43781751

This is a more comprehensible article:

www.eurovisionary.com/tom-neuwirth-conchita-wurst-i-hiv-positive/

It is confusing that Tom Neuwirth announced this via the Conchita Wurst twitter, rather than a personal account.

I think sometimes that people are so concerned about describing people the wrong way, and so make wrong assumptions whilst trying to be as PC as possible. Some organisations like Stonewall consider transvestites to be part of the trans umbrella and so perhaps the BBC go with trans as the assumption to avoid offence.

Yes I was confused too as I understood Conchita was all about widening the bandwidth of gender...
Really really awful that the HIV status had to be disclosed after being blackmailed.
It's no longer the death sentence it was and I hope they have many healthy years ahead.

Does this really need to be picked apart? Tom has been essentially blackmailed into declaring his diagnosis publicly. Information he has every right to wish to keep private.

I did find it weird that the BBC aren't referring to Tom Neuwirth at all, where he is the person involved in this. It's like referring to Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green.

It is really horrible that he's felt forced into making a statement on this, and I hope that the man who tried to blackmail him sees some consequence for that.

Weezol - it's hardly 'picking it apart'. I wish him the best as well, but aren't we allowed to question why an article on the bbc news site is confusing and inaccurate?

Because people only recognise the stage name. I LOVE Conchita. Her music really was inspirational to me when I went through a horrendous time in my life. Her voice is amazing.
Magazines did talk about 'the Rachel' hair cut, not 'the Jennifer '. Famous people who are well known for a particular role are known as that role in real life.
I know I'm in the minority here.

But when Jennifer Aniston got married/divorced etc, the reports on news organisations like the BBC didn't refer to her continually as Rachel Green without mentioning her name at all. The haircut was the character's style, not hers.

It would be perfectly normal for the news report to say "Thomas Neuwirth, famous for playing the drag act Conchita Wurst, has announced that he...". Just really weird to refer only to Conchita Wurst, and to use she/her throughout.

I was going to start a thread about this too. I can't read German but I wonder if there was something in the wording of Conchita's statement (which it was) that makes this the most sensitive way to report it? Or if their publicist released the statement with "notes for editors", which it's common for press releases to do, requesting that the media refer to Conchita?

Anyway I wish them all the best, what an awful thing to go through.

Maybe it was done this way because most people don't recognise his male name plus some media outlets not currently knowing whether up is down in gender ideology and want to avoid criticism.

Best wishes to him though, being blackmailed into revealing medical information is truly appalling.

Personally I think it is irrelevant whether it is as Conchita the drag artist or Thomas the man. The story is just done as it is a famous person to whom this has happened, so fair enough for it to be done as Conchita - ie more coverage and readers. I would think he decided it should be done as Conchita for this reason.

Absolutely great for him doing this. It would have taken guts, and he has had such a good response. He's also got the message out about U=U - ie someone on effective treatment can't infect anyone else.

Of course I have a vested interest following these articles. Disclosure is unfortunately still often done without the person's permission, whether in a newspaper article, healthcare setting or at work. You won't read many articles about this, but it happens a lot.

Just thought I'd shamelessly add that, (as this is predominantly a womans' forum), results were out last week for a survey "Women & HIV - Invisible No Longer". It showed things like 29% women experience abuse & violence in a healthcare setting. It also cause a lot of women to come out publicly in newspaper articles and on the radio & TV.

Hopefully one day HIV won't be such a big deal for people who don't have it, and there will be no fear of stigma or discrimination when disclosing

assassinated you have just totally freaked out my DH. He told me about this story 15 mins ago using Rachel from Friends as an example

HE is conchita wurst as his drag name so is obviously she seriously you need to calm down drag artists identify as she and fine you know not a hoot do you care about this persons illness.

Sorry to freak out your DH, @QuentinSummers! Probably just similar age and similar cultural references at play.

And people will know Concheta from eurovision reaching a wider fan base

He/She dresses as a woman, wears makeup and has a beard.

Thomas Neuwirth has said he doesn't identify as transgender, he is a gay man, and the character Conchita Wurtz is a stage persona, a drag act.

The BBC radio news item didn't refer to the real person behind the story at all, which I found odd.

It's really quite off, MrsJayy, to suggest that no one cares at all about his HIV status. You are simply imagining that.

Crikey that's appalling that he's (?) been forced to reveal that. :-(

drag artists identify as she

Is that true? Do all drag artists identify as she?

Although the gender status isn't really that important to the story anyway. The blackmail is however.

It doesn't take a genuis to work out why This news was broken on to conchita's twitter why conchita uses she . If my statement was off i apologise but I do think has their own agenda and was being unkind.

You're quite wrong about that Mrs Jayy - as we've said, Thomas does NOT identify as female, and I'm very sympathetic to his position, and hope he's as healthy as can be, which seems to be the case.

I'm confused at the reporting on this, and the slant the bbc (and others) have taken in only referring to Conchita, when the person with the diagnosis is a gay man called Thomas Neuwirth. Would they take this approach with Lily Savavge? Keith Lemon? Alan Partridge?

In a previous interview I read today, Thomas was saying how he planned to kill off Conchita - if that happened, would a person called Conchita really be reported as dead? There is a difference between a real person, and an alter ego. I started this thread because I honestly can't understand the reporting on this. Yes, Conchita is well known - but she's fiction.