There’s a chill wind blowing.
Way back in time there was this thing called AIDS. (Yes I know it’s called HIV now and it’s still around.)
In the early days it was called AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. In those early years it was most prevalent among gay men.
The Christian Right danced a happy jig because those “Filthy Fags were getting Gods righteous vengeance shoved up their asses” Those Christians were totally happy to see what they perceived as the Sodom and Gomorrah gays being wiped off the face of the earth.
The Christian Right was positively giddy about it. Anita Bryant became their poster child and the Televangelists across the country used their pulpits to suggest all gays should be left to die. (Hmm, that sounds similar to something a Washington politician said about those refusing the COVID vaccine.) Some went so far as saying all gays should be put into camps where they could fornicate themselves straight to Hell.
In the early years, the medical establishment wasn’t even sure what was causing it, or how it was spread. They had many suspicions, some of which were eventually borne out. There was a time when a lot of people (including Doctors) thought AIDS was transmitted by touch. Some thought it was airborne. Universally, though AIDS was a killer and an ugly way to go.
Eventually Researchers discovered it was apparently a virus. Then they concluded it was sexually transmitted. Oral sex to completion was off the table. Anal sex was the most likely route of infection, due to the potential for blood / semen contact.
It was a dangerous and dark time to be gay. Bathhouses, popular with some of the gay community, were closed by local government decree. Gay bars closed, and gay bashing, (always a popular pastime,) became more prevalent. “Bash a Fag for Jesus!”
By that time a whole generation of gay men were infected, and most of them died. Check out photos of the AIDS quilt.
The media spin was; Gay men were pariahs. Unclean, deadly, high risk to have in your home or in your office. Gay men were a health insurance plan nightmare and many companies cut their losses by summarily firing gay men. There was no protection against an employer terminating a gay person. In fact some employers terminated anyone diagnosed with AIDS regardless of their sexuality.
That only changed when straight people started getting AIDS.
Then a similar disease that had confounded Doctors in Africa was identified as AIDS. In the African nation, it was primarily a straight disease, and the narrative of gay men being the root cause began to wane.
COVID reminded me of those dark times. Not the disease itself but the media narrative and messaging. “Get vaccinated for others”, “Wear a mask to protect yourself and other people”, “The unvaxxed are pariahs who want you to die”
All of the narrative was just too eerily familiar.
Now we have Monkeypox!
OMG!
Some in the media are asking if this is the next pandemic and others seem to be trying to cause a new panic using the same tropes that were so successful with COVID.
A big difference is there is a conflation, intentional or not, of Monkeypox and Gay.
There’s this report from NBC News
Once again, the Gay community is ground zero and once again the media is making sure that everyone knows this outbreak seems to have started in the Gay community.
The most recent example is the two toddlers on opposite sides of the US who have monkeypox. The media has pointed out that both cases appear to have Gay parents.
Conservative Christians are already using this as fodder to promote that Gays are bad parents, apparently due to their “Unclean and sinful lifestyle”
One Washington politician, (I can’t remember who and I don’t want to give her any more press,) went so far as to ask, “How is it that children are getting a sexually transmitted disease?”
She with that one question demonstrated everything you need to know about her. Her implication is that the gay parents are having sex with toddlers.
One can also infer that she’s woefully uninformed about how monkeypox spreads, and probably is someone the gay community should keep a very close eye on.
The other thing I found interesting is there’s already a vaccine for Monkeypox. So the fear mongering is completely unwarranted.
This miraculous vaccine is called the Smallpox vaccine.
Read the box closely.
A lot of the recent pictures of vaccine vials have been edited to show only the word monkeypox. You can tell they’re edited image because a real vaccine vial typically has the manufacturer, the dosage, and information about the suspension the active component of the vaccine is delivered in.
Interestingly, the start of the smallpox vaccine was based on observations of milkmaids. There was a sharp physician dealing with a smallpox outbreak and he happened to notice that milkmaids were never among the smallpox victims.
When he investigated, he discovered that milkmaids would catch something they called cowpox. It was a one time annoyance and when it cleared from the milkmaids hands, they never got cowpox or smallpox.
Observation, led to innovation. Can you say anecdotal??? Thank God that sharp physician didn’t subscribe to the beliefs of St. Fauci of the Holy Mask. If he had, people would still be dying from smallpox.
Smallpox was eliminated from the developed world in the 1970s and upon the declaration that the scourge of smallpox was eliminated, routine smallpox vaccinations fell by the wayside.
For those of us born prior to the mid 1970s monkeypox is probably a minor concern. For my part, I’ll run it by my doctor to find out if I should get a booster.
Since the vaccine for monkeypox is the smallpox vaccine, and since smallpox was eradicated no-one should be surprised that there isn’t a huge supply of the vaccine. Most vaccines have a shelf life after which they’re disposed of. So big Pharma is going to have to ramp up production of the vaccine and that is going to take time.
Not to defend government or big Pharma…
But what do you expect? What’s the point of having huge stockpiles of a vaccine that is only going to sit in a freezer or on a shelf and go bad? That’s not good business or a practical allocation of resources.
So to all of you out there complaining about the vaccine shortages, sit down, shut up, and give it some thought before you light your hair on fire with one foot nailed to the floor and run in tight little circles.
Monkeypox is generally not fatal. If you get it, follow your doctor’s instructions, and move on with life.
You know… sort of like what you should do with COVID.
From the CDC
How does Smallpox Spread?
Before smallpox was eradicated, it was mainly spread by direct and fairly prolonged face-to-face contact between people. Smallpox patients became contagious once the first sores appeared in their mouth and throat (early rash stage). They spread the virus when they coughed or sneezed and droplets from their nose or mouth spread to other people. They remained contagious until their last smallpox scab fell off.
These scabs and the fluid found in the patient’s sores also contained the variola virus. The virus can spread through these materials or through the objects contaminated by them, such as bedding or clothing. People who cared for smallpox patients and washed their bedding or clothing had to wear gloves and take care to not get infected.
Rarely, smallpox has spread through the air in enclosed settings, such as a building (airborne route).
Smallpox can be spread by humans only. Scientists have no evidence that smallpox can be spread by insects or animals.
Also from the CDC
Monkeypox spreads in different ways. The virus can spread from person-to-person through:
direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids
respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex
touching items (such as clothing or linens) that previously touched the infectious rash or body fluids
pregnant people can spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta
It’s also possible for people to get monkeypox from infected animals, either by being scratched or bitten by the animal or by preparing or eating meat or using products from an infected animal.
Monkeypox can spread from the time symptoms start until the rash has fully healed and a fresh layer of skin has formed. The illness typically lasts 2-4 weeks. People who do not have monkeypox symptoms cannot spread the virus to others. At this time, it is not known if monkeypox can spread through semen or vaginal fluids.
According to the CDC
Monkeypox virus is part of the same family of viruses as variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox.
That being said, I’ve not been able to find an exact name for the monkeypox virus itself. It appears the smallpox vaccine is effective because monkeypox is part of the same viral family.
So in my unprofessional opinion. I think monkeypox is going to be a big nothing burger. We have a tried and true Effective vaccine. We know the vaccine is effective because it wiped smallpox from most of the planet.
We also know anecdotally that if cowpox provided immunity to smallpox, and smallpox provides immunity to cowpox, then it’s probable a pox is a pox.
The politician who implied something nefarious going on in gay households with children obviously doesn’t know how to read, or apparently how to enter a search on the CDC.GOV website.
With monkeypox we need to shut down the narrative being spun by the media, religious zealots, and the just plain uninformed.
Of course monkeypox is going to show up first in the gay community. Pride Festivals were held for the first time in two years. They are nation wide throughout the month of June, and some people travel to multiple celebrations.
These people needn’t be having sex, (contrary to the salacious news,) all they had to do is hug and kiss one another. Is it so difficult to believe that people would be ecstatic to be able to travel and see friends in person that they hadn’t seen for two years?
I do find the timing interesting.
It could simply be a coincidence, but if I wanted to test the dissemination of a pathogen I can’t think of a better way than to introduce it during pride month. Precisely because it’s a month of celebrations and gatherings where lots of people travel to various cities attending multiple gatherings.
Talk about a great infectious testing platform.
Just sayin…
I’m prone to wonder about those kinds of things.
I mean, how the hell can a pathogen that’s typically confined to a small region in Africa suddenly appear all over the world at almost the same time?
With AIDS, which also came out of a relatively small region in Africa, patient zero was alleged to be a flight attendant.
The coincidence and similarity just makes me wonder.
Call it my suspicious nature.
