Monkeypox: I’ve Seen This Movie Before — Twice

First with AIDS. Second with COVID. From Scientific American, “In describing the U.S. response to monkeypox, ‘the main adjective that comes to mind is sluggish,’ says Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. … Activists in the gay community say they have been extremely frustrated by the slow response. ‘We lost weeks and weeks because we weren’t routinely screening for people with monkeypox,’ says James Krellenstein, co-founder and managing director for strategy and policy at PrEP4All, an organization working to increase access to HIV medication. ‘I view this from a pandemic preparedness perspective as our first real trial run since SARS-CoV-2, and we’re flunking.’”

You see what the real issue is here, yes? Because this disease is primarily contained within the gay community, there is no sense of urgency. You know, like when AIDS first hit America. It was just easier to ignore the gays and let them die. It is somewhat incomprehensible that Biden is the head of this government’s delayed reaction. It only goes to show the LGBTQ community is always expendable. Now, I realize monkeypox is not like AIDS, nor is it like COVID. Of course, this is true until it’s not. You may be thinking that monkeypox is not lethal. Wrong! According to Nature, “So far this year, there have been more than 3,000 confirmed monkeypox cases in countries beyond Central and West Africa, but no deaths have been reported. In Africa, however, health officials have reported more than 70 deaths that they suspect were caused by monkeypox. This is probably an undercount because of limited testing and surveillance capacity, says Dimie Ogoina, an infectious-disease physician at Niger Delta University in Amassoma, Nigeria.” Not to mention other health complications that may result. The only saving grace is that monkeypox has been around for decades, and there are vaccines and therapeutics. In addition, it is a DNA-based virus, which means it does not mutate easily, unlike HIV and COVID. The world won’t have to go around chasing mutations that keep evading medicine — until it does. The world could contain this newest pandemic if it wanted to, but so far, all the right minorities are being impacted — the gays and Blacks. Hence, there is no need to expedite a response until straight WASPs start contracting the illness.

Nonetheless, the enduring problem is that monkeypox is just another perceived gay disease whereby people in the U.S. are dragging their feet to get a handle on the outbreak as the W.H.O. has already declared a world health emergency. Monkeypox is a gay problem; let’s wait and see what happens. Once again, we’re back to blaming the gays for their conduct and “perversion.” They can suffer and live in fear. It’s not like it will kill them! Another disease was brought to America’s shores by the gays. Never forget that Americans are always looking for ways to find the gays disposable! Before you know it, evil evangelicals will start their hate speech calling monkeypox God’s wrath on the gays for their lifestyle; the 40 percent of idiot Americans will readily believe. Mark my words! And to be absolutely clear: This is not necessarily a sexually transmitted disease. Welcome to stupid America.