General Mills announced on Wednesday that Olympic diving legend Greg Louganis will finally get a spot on a box of Wheaties cereal. All it took was 43,000 people to sign an online petition to make it happen.

 

Still, the fact it is happening at all is something to celebrate.

 

"By including a gay, HIV-positive Olympic hero on its iconic breakfast box, Wheaties is sending a powerful statement that living your authentic life is what champions are made of," GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.

 

"Stigma around HIV is a key factor inhibiting progress," added The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. "To see an HIV-positive man on a Wheaties box would be a tremendous stride in the stigma barrier that prevents so many Americans from getting tested and treated for HIV.

 

"But, the main reason to see Greg Louganis on a box of Wheaties is that he is undeniably the greatest diver of all time."

 

Louganis said the honor means a lot to him.

 

"Back in ’95, I wasn’t expected to live very long because we thought of HIV-AIDS as a death sentence, so to be here today, now 56, the box means so much more to me than it would have then because I feel like I’m being embraced as a whole person, not just for my athletic achievements," he said during an interview.

 

You can dive into a box of Louganis' Wheaties in May.

 

 

Olympic Diver Greg Louganis Will Get His Own Wheaties Box After Petition [Time]

 

Greg Louganis Will Finally Get His Wheaties Box [Advocate]