America's LGBTQ community confronts virus and its stigma

LOS ANGELES • The spread of the monkeypox virus and its prevalence among gay men have sparked widespread fear, growing anger and a number of uncomfortable questions for a community still scarred by the early years of the HIV/Aids epidemic.

While there is still widespread public confusion about the precise nature and spread of the disease, it is a fact that the overwhelming majority of monkeypox patients in the United States identify as LGBTQ and are male.

For some, the situation evokes dark parallels with the 1980s, when acquired immune deficiency syndrome was stigmatised as a "gay plague", hospitals and funeral homes turned away patients and victims, and White House officials either cracked homophobic jokes about or simply ignored HIV.

At a meeting last week in West Hollywood, a hub for Los Angeles' LGBTQ community, actor Matt Ford received a standing ovation as he spoke openly about the "excruciating" symptoms he had endured when he contracted the disease - an experience he has also shared online.

Afterwards, he said he "definitely had doubts before coming out publicly about my experience".

"I was pretty on the fence prior to tweeting due to the potential for social stigma and people being cruel - especially on the Internet - but thankfully, the response was mostly positive," he said.

What pushed Mr Ford to speak out was the urgent need to warn others about the disease in the days leading up to West Hollywood's major LGBTQ Pride celebrations.

While monkeypox has not so far been labelled a sexually transmitted infection and can infect anyone, the group currently most affected are men who have sex with men. Spreading through skin-to-skin contact, the disease is most often transmitted through sexual activity, and the World Health Organisation last week urged gay and bisexual men to limit their sexual partners.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE