The official President Joe Biden tapped to fight mpox—the virus formerly known as monkeypox—said public health officials should not oppose “Pride” events that end in anonymous same-sex orgies, but instead craft a policy that “supports” the “joy” victims find in random sexual encounters.
After all, “one person’s idea of risk is another person’s idea of a great festival or Friday night,” said the official, who frequently wears a pentagram in social media posts.
White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator Dr. Demetre Daskalakis asserted that any message creating “stigma” for those who like to have sex with multiple strangers would actually increase mpox infections. Cases of the virus, which causes open sores and lesions on the skin, have risen nationwide as “Pride Month” rolls on.
“I always say that I’ve never made an HIV diagnosis in someone that hasn’t somehow related to stigma. I think mpox is the same,” Daskalakis told MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart on Sunday. Public health officials should “get the word out in a way that supports people’s joy as opposed to, you know, calling them risky.”
“One person’s idea of risk is another person’s idea of a great festival or Friday night, for that matter,” the Biden administration official said. “So, we have to sort of embrace that with joy and make sure that folks know how to keep themselves safe.”
“When you think ‘Pride,’ think joy and happiness,” Daskalakis told MSNBC, but also get “sexual health care lined up” to minimize transmission at mpox super-spreader events.
R&I ~ MJM
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