In September 2019, while interviewing with New York Times, Van Ness publicly came out as HIV-positive. Initially, in the beginning, he was nervous about opening up about his HIV status, but he wanted to tell his story to help others diagnosed with HIV.

He says that living with HIV is manageable; it’s the same way as diabetes, but make sure one has access to good health care services. During that time, he highlighted the client’s hair in the saloon, and later, he fainted. The next day he visited Planned Parenthood and found out he had been tested HIV positive. 

Van Ness has talked more about the experience of being diagnosed with HIV aged 25 in his book, “Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love.”