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A Gay NYC Man Says of Monkeypox: “People Are Scared”

Updated: Aug 15, 2022




According to the CDC, monkeypox sufferers can develop skin lesions like these
According to the CDC, monkeypox sufferers can develop skin lesions like these

The Insider:

Hi Charles! Thanks for doing an interview with The Insider.

Charles:

You’re welcome.

The Insider:

On Thursday, the Biden Administration declared monkeypox a national health emergency. I would imagine that there is a lot of concern now in the gay community here about monkeypox, now that New York City is the epicenter of the crisis.

Charles:

I am! People are scared

The Insider:

Have you been reading a lot about it?

Charles:

Yes and listening also.

The Insider:

When did you first learn about it?

Charles:

I first started seeing info showing up on my newsfeed in mid-May.

The Insider:

And were your gay friends talking about it soon after that? What were people saying?

Charles:

I started having discussions with them, but they told me stop being an alarmist. I started sending articles and a podcast I heard about a gay man traveling to Berlin and an outbreak there. That was the first bit of news I read talked about random outbreaks around the world.

The Insider:

So at the beginning, do you think people in Manhattan were skeptical about it?


Charles:

The same as Covid--watching from afar

The Insider:

Did that begin to change, though? When?

Charles:

I think when the vaccine started coming out, people started thinking seriously

The Insider:

When you began to become concerned, did you change your lifestyle in any way?

Charles:

I’ve not been having random sex because of Covid, so I was not concerned that I was exposed. But I was concerned about gathering where there are shirtless people or being close because of airborne particles. Like a dance party. From what I’ve read or been told, you need to be in very close contact.

The Insider:

Did this remind you of how it used to be during the height of AIDS?

Charles:

Yes, it did bring back feelings from the AIDS crisis

The Insider:

Of people being worried about sex?

Charles:

Yes, sexual contact is definitely putting yourself at risk

The Insider:

Had the pandemic already changed sexual habits in the gay community, do you think?

Charles:

For some yes, others no. I was more cautious in the Covid situation definitely.

Some of my friends still continue to see other people. Or were not concerned

The Insider:

Do you personally know anyone who has had monkeypox?

Charles:

I don’t know anyone at the moment

The Insider:

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, 95% of the people in the U.S. with monkeypox are sexually active gay or bisexual men. New York City is the main site. What specific steps have you personally taken to make sure that you don’t get it?

Charles:

I’m not being sexually active with random people.

The Insider:

Is that a change for you?

Charles:

I have been more cautious around sex in the last five years

The Insider:

Partly because of the pandemic?

Charles:

Even before the pandemic.

The Insider:

Because of something in particular?

Charles:

I don’t find it as intriguing as I used to. Also, with PrEP on the market, people are having more unsafe sex and there is a rise of other STD’s

The Insider:

I’m not sure what “PrEP” is.

Charles:

It protects you from HIV

The Insider:

What would be the name of one of those commonly prescribed drugs?

Charles:

Truvada

The Insider:

Do you have a doctor whom you talk openly with? What has he or she told you about monkeypox?

Charles:

The only doctor I’ve spoken to was an infectious disease specialist who I met. I had a conversation with her. She told me if you have very close contact with someone face-to-face or sexual intimacy if someone’s infected with the monkeypox virus, then you have a high risk of contracting it. She said casual touch is not going to infect you


The Insider:

Have you tried to get a vaccine for it?

Charles:

Yes. I did the other day, but to no avail. I couldn’t get an appointment. Everyone kept saying they were taken when I pressed on appointments. I saw this morning that they’re going to try a new technique where they’re going to take one vaccine and be able to use it five times on five different people

The Insider:

It said in an article that I just read that gay men were waiting in line into the middle of the night in San Francisco trying to get them.

How about your friends? Have any of them changed their sexual activities because of this?

Charles:

Not that I know of. I hear straight people talking about how they want to get vaccinated because they’re becoming concerned that this is going to become a huge pandemic. Some of my gay friends have gotten the vaccine

The Insider:

What did they tell you about that? Was it just like getting a Covid vaccine?

Charles:

It sounded similar. No one got a bad reaction

The Insider:

Do you think that the government is being too slow to act about this, like it was in the AIDS crisis?


Charles:

It sounds like they’re really not prepared from, what I’m listening to

The Insider:

You would think that they would have learned their lesson from Covid!

Charles:

It does not seem like they have

The Insider:

Do you think that if monkeypox were spreading in the straight community that it would be getting quicker action from the government?

Charles:

I don’t think so

The Insider:

So the government is just slow about everything!

Charles:

I think monkeypox is becoming more in the limelight and people are talking about it I think they’re going to be forced to get themselves in gear. I think they’re not prepared, which you would think they would be after the Covid epidemic. When a virus emerges that is out of our control, extreme measure should have been taken to control an outbreak.

I was thumbing through my mail up yesterday and a guy in the elevator looked at me and said that’s a lot of trees I wanted to say to him I don’t think we have to be worried about trees I think we need to be worried about viruses. We might be compost for the trees of the virus is take over

The Insider:

It seems particularly unfortunate that the gay community is going through this again, especially since gay rights appear to be under fire from the right-wing these days.

I have wondered whether gay marriage will be next, after abortion being banned.

Charles:

I don’t think gay marriage is going to be under fire. Too many people in America have gay friends, gay brothers, gay sisters. I don’t think people want to see the gay community restricted or sent back to 50 years ago. Maybe I just have a bit of faith in humanity.

The Insider:

You do! I’m not sure I do anymore. They’re sending women back 50 years.

Charles:

I was listening to something about the midterm elections and how if the Republicans attack gay marriage, it’s not going to be good for the whole voting bloc.

The Insider:

Yes, I’m hoping that will be true, and true of abortion too. I don’t think the country is as conservative as the Supreme Court is.

Charles:

I agree. But I am afraid of the backlash the monkeypox virus could cause against the gay community

The Insider:

That’s interesting. There was a backlash about AIDS too, as I remember.

Charles:

Yes. Did you see that polio bacteria was found upstate? And there are cases of a new hepatitis that have passed from animals to humans

The Insider:

No, I didn’t see that. The world is falling apart, right?

Charles:

Seems like it

The Insider:

Thanks so much for your time, Charles! Much appreciated.

Charles:

Thank you!



Read a Follow-Up Interview with Charles here

1 comment

1 Comment


helene.bednarsh
Aug 07, 2022

The stigma is too much like the 80's with HIV. There's evidence of community transmission and a virus knows no boundaries and will seek out the most available host to infect. Just because the majority, and first cases, were among MSM they are not the only source of or route of infection. Defined more similarly to a sexually transmitted disease what is important is to avoid contact with potentially infected people, not to share household items or personal items with an infected person. Of course this is all common sense, in the media and on Government websites. Just don't delude yourself into thinking this is just another one of those "gay" diseases.


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