On May 11 – less than a year after the JYNNEOS vaccine was approved for prevention of the virus that causes smallpox (to which mpox is related) – WHO declared the mpox outbreak officially over.
And we all have queer folks to thank for it.
Monkeypox’s disproportionate effect on men who have sex with men reminded many people in the community of the AIDS epidemic of the 1980′s which led to the deaths of TK number.
Darian Aaron, News Director for the LGBTQ advocacy nonprofit GLAAD, has conducted interviews and written news stories about how mpox has affected his community, especially Southern, queer men of color.
He spoke with Reckon about his experience as a storyteller for an advocacy organization and as a gay Black man when fears around mpox arose last summer.
“It was a scary time. It was hard to get appointments to get vaccines. A lot of queer men were very scared and very angry,” Aaron said. “It reminded us of old scars.”
The Centers for Disease Control had some concerns about mpox spreading again this summer as health officials are still learning how long protection lasts with the new mpox vaccine.
The outbreak was affecting a different group of people in America compared to Africa, where the virus is endemic. Finding cases outside in Europe or North America was far more unlikely, which triggered panic among Americans, especially men who have sex with men.
So far, there have been no reports of mpox outbreaks associated with Pride Month events or other queer social events, said Darian Aaron, News Director for the media monitoring organization GLAAD.
Many men took to the internet to share their experiences with HIV in the 90s felt uncomfortably similar to the language surrounding the mpox outbreak.
Aaron said he got the two-dose regimen of the JYNNEOS vaccine and has avoided mpox, but even the small scar left behind by the vaccine wound serves as a reminder.
“The scar on my forearm was a reminder of how I was othered. I specifically was given a…
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