Tag Archives: adrian hyyrylainen-trett

Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett

Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett writes…Why do I want to be President of the Liberal Democrats?

By Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett | Thu 19th September 2019 - 12:30 pm

Many of you may be asking the same question and I’m going to be honest. When I came to conference last weekend we only had two candidates Mark Pack and Richard Kemp – two very able, respectable and hardworking members  to which I’m not going to criticise in any way shape or form. 

However, the optics from a diversity and media perspective were awful – no diversity, no women, no ethnic minorities, no visible disability or invisible disability known and with the current furore over our LGBT+ group no candidate standing up for our party as the leading LGBT+ campaigning  in the race – so sometimes you have to stick your head above the parapet and say it’s time someone does …. 

So that’s what I decided to do on Sunday afternoon and thankfully we now have both Prue Bray and Jo Hayes In the race too.. 

So what is my platform going to concentrate on –  I’m going to be decidedly frank.

Our outgoing President Sal Brinton has done her best and I thank her for all she’d done but there are elements where I believe the internal machinations of our party have overwhelmed the role – and I believe the role should be split in two. There is a  fundamental role for dealing with the difficult internal party dynamics alongside chairing the internal Federal Board – as well as the external representation to the media and membership around the country. These two are profoundly different roles and I will thank Gordon Lishman for his insightful Liberator article which really got me thinking. 

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Liberal Democrat candidate Paul Childs talks about living with HIV

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 8th April 2015 - 12:55 pm

Liverpool Liberal Democrat candidate Paul Childs had been thinking of speaking publicly about his HIV status and was inspired by Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett’s powerful interview last week to do so. Nigel Farage’s horrible comments about the NHS treating foreigners with HIV in last week’s debate finally made up his mind and he contacted Buzzfeed.

He talked about how it felt when he was diagnosed:

I was never expecting it to happen. I remember being at work, sitting in a corridor and bursting into tears. I started shaking and getting really scared.” He went back to the hospital the next day. The second test was also positive.

I cried in front of the nurse – the staff were very supportive. I knew a little bit about what HIV meant because I’d done some work with a gay men’s health charity in Glasgow but I still had in my head that it was a terminal diagnosis. I asked the doctor how long I had to live.

He learned, though, that the condition could be kept under control, though:

Childs’ doctor explained that when treated properly, HIV is an entirely manageable chronic condition with a near normal life expectancy.

That simple sentence is something many people don’t realise.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Caron Lindsay

Former LGBT+ chair Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett becomes Britain’s first openly HIV positive candidate

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 30th March 2015 - 10:54 pm

Adrian Hyyrylainen-TrettI am feeling incredibly emotional this evening. What I’m feeling ranges from intense pride in a friend whose courage in telling his story will help others, to equally intense, ice-cold rage at what he has had to endure over the years. Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Vauxhall. He is a former chair of LGBT+ Lib Dems. Tonight, he has spoken to Buzzfeed about the bullying he suffered at school, how this led him to contemplate suicide at the age of just 14 and how his mental health deteriorated during his early adult life. He tells how he contracted HIV 11 years ago.

The fact that Adrian’s health has improved, he has found happiness in his personal life and professional success will be an inspiration to other young people who are suffering in the same way. I understand a little bit of what it’s like to be that teenager everyone hates who thinks the world would be so much better without her. Except when I was a teenager, nobody talked about this kind of stuff and I thought I was alone and the feelings I had were because I was a bad person.

You need to read the whole interview. It’s powerful, eloquent and very, very frank.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 9 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Simon R
    @Mike: Just about every human being alive has suffered some trauma in their lives. But most of us have sufficient sense of responsibility not to respond to that...
  • Robin Bennett
    The FOI disclosure about spending by Creative Scotland broken down by council area reveals just one example of the centralist bias of so many parts of governmen...
  • Mike Peters
    So if you want every voter to have equal influence, do we also have to have a limit on much much time people can ‘donate’ to campaigning activities? I mean,...
  • Tessa Skoczylas
    A very good article and excellent comments. I am very concerned that there seems to be accidental or purposeful misinformation being promoted in the media and b...
  • Mike Peters
    I’m surprised that ACH is calling for ‘swift and thorough punishment’ for those who are violent towards NHS staff. Does he not appreciate that those who a...