Monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease. But it does spread through skin-to-skin contact—and therefore, during sex. The disease has currently spread overwhelmingly among men who have sex with men, and the LGBTQ community has been at the forefront of trying to contain and control infection, advocating for more vaccinations and testing, as well as information about the seriousness of the disease.
Yet once again government response has been slow, including in countries like the US that have a stockpile of vaccines and testing capacity. This has left many gay and bisexual men exposed to the risk of contagion, even though more doses have been distributed in areas with high number of cases—such as New York City, where more than 1,250 cases have been detected (given the scarcity of tests, the actual number of cases is likely to be several thousands more).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked gay and bisexual men to take steps to reduce the spread. “For men who have sex with men, this includes, for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners, reconsidering sex with new partners, and exchanging contact details with any new partners to enable follow-up if needed,” said WHO’s head Dr. Tedros in a press conference.
But queer activists have a better idea than that: Sex pods.
