In a brave move, former state Democratic chair Bob Poe announced on Thursday that he's HIV-positive. Should he win election in Florida's open 10th District, he would become the first openly HIV-positive person to serve in Congress. Poe says he was diagnosed after experiencing "flu-like symptoms" in 1998, when he was married to a woman but having sex with men. Poe told Watermark magazine, which describes him as "healthy," that he decided to come out about his condition after meeting a woman on the campaign trail who told him (without knowing Poe's status) that she'd recently learned that she was HIV-positive and lacked health insurance. Poe didn't reveal his own diagnosis right then, but he explained:
"I just wanted to hug her and tell her that she wasn't alone, that I'm HIV and that I'm happy and healthy and she will be too. But I couldn't," Poe recalls, shaking his head. "I couldn't in that moment. Afterwards it became clear to me. I have an obligation to do this if I'm going to be a public servant. There's no one else in elective office, that I know of at least, with the same opportunity to talk about [HIV] from a personal perspective. My encounter with that woman, who was just looking for reassurance, took me over the edge."
Poe, who also released a video announcing the news directly, faces two notable opponents in the Democratic primary in this solidly blue district: former Orlando police chief Val Demings, and state Sen. Geraldine Thompson. In an unusual move, the DCCC endorsed Demings, but Poe is independently wealthy and has loaned his campaign more than $1 million. Poe, who is white, might also benefit from the fact that he's the only man in a race with two women, both of whom are black and could wind up splitting the district's sizable African-American vote. It's unclear how Poe's new revelation might affect the race, but he's already received considerable attention for his courage. The primary will be held Aug. 30.
