Our host and Co-founder of Older Queer Voices, Raga D’Silva, spoke with HIV activist, campaigner and actor Matthew Hodson about a life shaped by activism, survival, visibility and extraordinary change.

Born just days after the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales, Matthew takes us from discovering London’s gay scene at just 15, through the fear of the AIDS crisis and the fight against Section 28, to direct action, protest and decades of HIV advocacy. He reflects on his own HIV diagnosis, the stigma and secrecy that followed, and the extraordinary transformation in treatment that means people living with HIV on effective treatment can now have the same life expectancy as those without HIV.

Matthew also speaks powerfully about why today’s attacks on trans people remind him of battles the LGBTQ+ community has fought before, and why solidarity, visibility and organising still matter.

Now approaching 60, he has returned to acting, the career he stepped away from after his HIV diagnosis, and reflects beautifully on ageing, purpose and legacy.

Perhaps the most powerful reminder from this conversation is a simple one: legacy does not have to mean being remembered forever. Sometimes changing one person's life is enough.

And Matthew leaves us with a message that still needs to be heard:

When someone living with HIV is on effective treatment, there is zero risk of sexual transmission. U=U

A conversation about how far we have come, what we must never forget, and why our stories still matter.

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Raga D'Silva, host of Older Queer Voices, sat down with Matthew Page for a deeply moving conversation about identity, belonging and what it means to finally feel whole.

Growing up in foster care from the age of three, Matthew shares his journey through rejection, discovering he was gay in 1970s Britain, becoming a foster carer himself, and later finding his birth family through DNA testing.

Together, they explore race, sexuality, chosen family, the lifelong search for where we belong, and why hope remains one of the most powerful things we can hold onto.

This is a conversation about more than foster care. It is about finding yourself, understanding your story, and discovering that belonging can change everything.

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Raga D'Silva talks to Heather Paterson in a brilliantly powerful conversation on tattoos, identity, visibility and the stories we carry on our skin in this episode of The Human Scrapbook.

Heather describes herself as a "human scrapbook". With more than 100 tattoos and a life dedicated to LGBTQIA+ activism and community leadership, she shares what it means to carry memories, meaning and identity on your skin.

What starts as a conversation about tattoos becomes a deeper exploration of belonging, judgement, self expression, visibility and navigating a world that often makes assumptions before we speak.

A fascinating and thought provoking conversation about being unapologetically yourself.

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