It is with some amount of schadenfreude that I’ve been observing the reaction of the LGBTQI+ (whatever the hell other letters are in it now,) reaction to Monkeypox.
There was an interesting article in Outspoken that I read with some sadness.
In my opinion, the author is pretty dead on.
The trouble is that so few people who lived through the early days of HIV are listened to, or taken seriously these days.
I’ve written elsewhere in this blog about those early days, I’ll not repeat myself.
What I will say is that in the early days when no-one was really sure how HIV was spread there was a lot less touching. In fact there was a lot less of anything if you were concerned for your life.
Monkeypox is far more obvious. HIV wasn’t something that you could see someone had, until they were in the latter stages.
Monkeypox also has a very defined life cycle. Onset, Symptoms, Resolution of Symptoms, and finally the person generally returns to health. (Yes, I know there have been some deaths.)
The strange thing is that Monkeypox has a fatality rate of about 10%. That rate is less if the person seeks appropriate treatment.
So let’s compare and contrast. For the sake of argument let’s say Monkeypox is 90% survivable. COVID is 98% survivable. Monkeypox is generally transmitted via physical contact with an infected person or biological residue from an infected person. COVID is transmitted via airborne particulates.
With COVID we shut the world down for two years.
With Monkeypox we’re nowhere near shutting the world down.
What can we derive from this?
One
Since Monkeypox is mostly affecting the LGBTQI+ community, the government’s response is pretty much the same as it was during the early days of HIV, laissez-faire.
One might infer this means that the powers that be are only interested in the LGBTQI+ community at election time. So perhaps the LGBTQI+ community should remember that at the midterms and beyond.
Two
If the LGBTQI+ community were as smart, educated, and responsible as they claim to be. They’d put the word out that the quickest and easiest way to shut this down is to stop congregating. It would probably take less than 2 months.
Just 2 months of solo, or Zoom sex and Monkeypox wouldn’t be sweeping through the LGBTQI+ community. Remember, this is the community that joined the “Karens” on masking, vaccinations, and self isolation during COVID. Why aren’t they following the rules now?
I’m not suggesting that the LGBTQI+ community never have sex again. I’m suggesting that by abstinence for a couple of months the Monkeypox virus would burn itself out like all viruses do, when they are unable to inhabit new hosts.
For those who may have a problem thinking this through, allow me to elaborate.
Monkeypox infects a person. That person makes antibodies naturally that kill the virus. The virus is eliminated from the person’s system, leaving immunity from further infection. The person can no longer be infected, nor can they spread the infection.
This is called immunity.
If the person does not spread the virus during the time they’re infected. The virus dies. Think of this as starving the virus…
If, on the other hand the person continues to interact with others and isn’t very careful about cleanliness, (maintaining their own laundry, properly disposing of any disposable materials that came into contact with their sores or bodily fluids,) then the virus finds new hosts and spreads.
It’s a simple fucking equation.
It was not so long ago when we were all being told to wear a mask everywhere and go get vaccinated to prevent the spread of COVID.
Remember? It was our patriotic duty to forego our petty desires, it was patriotic to subject ourselves to discomfort for the protection of others.
Monkeypox is no different. In fact the straight-line solution is simpler.
STOP fucking around!
The LGBTQI+ community in New York, San Francisco, and every other large city needs to step the fuck up. Quit your bitching and moaning about the availability of vaccines and take responsibility for yourselves.
Take a couple of months off! It won’t kill you to not go out to the bar, the disco, the local orgy, or whatever.
What better way to flip the bird at the government than to essentially say with your actions.
“Fuck you! You bunch of useless old political hacks. You wouldn’t take action so we did!”
How better to demonstrate that the LGBTQI+ community is in fact responsible?
An added benefit is that it buys time. Time for the big Pharma to get enough of the vaccine into the system so that everyone can get a proper effective vaccine against not only Monkeypox, but Smallpox as well.
I’d remind you Smallpox is still a thing is small pockets of the world. While it was effectively eliminated from the Western countries, it still exists elsewhere.
That should factor into your thinking when you look at the southern border and realize that the folks making that journey aren’t only from Mexico or South America.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to go into the whole mess regarding the border, but having a border and enforcing the law isn’t only about people. It’s also about diseases for which our population may have zero immunity.
Minor things like Ebola, Smallpox, Cholera, Malaria, Typhoid, you know, nasty shit.
One Hundred years ago on Ellis Island the primitive medicine of the time recognized that some people would have to be turned back and denied entry into the country to prevent plagues gaining a foothold.
The indigenous peoples of North America learned that harsh lesson. Smallpox & Measles decimated their population. Diseases, carried on blankets given to them by the immigrants coming from Europe.
Just food for thought…