Tributes have been paid to the co-founder of the Terrence Higgins Trust, who passed away at the age of 71 on 21 February.
Martyn Butler was born and raised in Newport and moved to London in the 1970s to work in advertising, cinema and entertainment.
On the gay scene, he met fellow Welshman Terry Higgins – who was the first named person to die from an AIDS-related illness in the UK – with whom he worked at the Heaven nightclub.
In 1982, after Higgins’ death, his partner Rupert Whitaker and Butler set up the Terrence Higgins Trust, Europe’s first HIV-response organisation.
The charity, originally named the Terry Higgins Trust, was created to “humanise the epidemic, support people living with AIDS and share the information that would prevent HIV transmission”.
Butler organised the charity’s first fundraiser, which raised £400 (£1,400 in today’s money), spoke at the first AIDS conference organised by Gay Switchboard and the Gay Medics Association and designed the first Terrence Higgins Trust leaflet.
In 1983, Butler used his home phone number as the first AIDS helpline, and in 2022, he was awarded an OBE and the Rainbow Honours’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
“From its small beginnings in a flat in central London, we’ve grown to become the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, and one of the largest in Europe,” the charity’s website reads.
‘His legacy lives on’
Guy Hewett, Butler’s brother, said: “Martyn was first a son and brother, that is how we’ll remember him.
“We’re heartbroken to lose him so suddenly, but full of pride for all he achieved.
“He saw it as a duty to inform the country, and in particular the gay community, of what little information there was on HIV and AIDS in the early 1980s.
“He took great joy in seeing what Terrence Higgins Trust has become and stayed involved to the very end. Grief is the terrible price of love, but we know his legacy lives on.”
Richard Angell, chief executive of Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “Terrence Higgins Trust literally wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Martyn. When it came to the organisation and people living with HIV, nothing was too much trouble for him.
“From our first fundraiser, speaking engagement, and leaflet to marching at Cardiff Pride, unveiling Terry Higgins’s blue plaque in Haverfordwest and talking to the media, Martyn has walked with us every step of the way.
“He’ll be missed by the Terrence Higgins Trust family, his mother, siblings and the friends so lucky to spend time with him.
“He was determined, spirited and never took no for an answer. Kind to a fault, he was also brave – giving his home phone number as the first AIDS helpline in 1983 – and caring, and an inspiration to other deaf people everywhere. He’ll be sorely missed.”
‘A tenacious campaigner’
Health secretary Wes Streeting said: “Martyn Butler was a tenacious campaigner for people living with HIV.
“He had both the foresight to set up Terrence Higgins Trust and the insight to name it after his friend to humanise the AIDS epidemic, which has shaped the UK’s response to HIV.
“As health secretary, it was my privilege to be part of his fifth decade of championing HIV prevention, support and remembrance. We’re all forever in his debt and his legacy lives on.”
Jeremy Miles, health secretary in the Welsh government, said: “It was only three months ago that Martyn Butler and I unveiled the blue plaque in Haverfordwest for Terry Higgins.
“He spoke with humility about his friend and passion about the 43 years that have followed. The loss of so many friends, the progress in LGBT rights and the developments in HIV care, treatment and prevention.
“He was a powerful voice when Welsh government was writing its HIV Action Plan.
“We owe it to him to meet the ambition we shared: to end new HIV cases and be the first country to do so.”
