Political science has continued to rule the decision making of progressives and the latest example is par for the course in defying logic as, despite multiple declared health emergencies over monkeypox, a leather fetish festival was not only allowed to proceed, but officials encouraged attendance.
The “Up Your Alley” street fair, also know as “Dore Alley,” is an annual event held in the SoMa area of San Francisco, Calif., and is a smaller version of the better known Folsom Street Fair. As previously reported, the initial outbreak of monkeypox was linked to the Maspalomas Pride festival in May but outlets had not confirmed the prevalence of sexual transmission as cause for the outbreak.
What is known is that San Francisco had 257 positive tests for the virus, roughly a third of the 786 cases statewide by Thursday when Mayor London Breed (D) declared a “Local Public Health Emergency,” according to The Mercury News. Men make up more than 98 percent of reported cases of monkeypox and nearly 92 percent of all cases were said to be members of the LGBT community.
“This virus impacts everyone, but our LGBTQ community is seeing significant cases and we need action…” Breed said.
However, unlike the global health emergency declared by the World Health Organization, the emergency order does not go into effect until August 1, the day after the festival.
This virus impacts everyone, but our LGBTQ community is seeing significant cases and we need action, we need more vaccines.
Learn more here: https://t.co/AAhJM3Xerf— London Breed (@LondonBreed) July 28, 2022
David Harris, a 29-year-old bisexual man, told the San Francisco Chronicle, “The same population that’s being most affected by the disease is the same population that attends these events, most exclusively. I just don’t even want to be here this weekend.”
He further added his frustration with the Folsom Street organizer’s responsible for the event who have failed to address the “elephant in the room.”
“I’ve been scanning their posts,” Harris said. “They have yet to say a single word even mentioning the word ‘monkeypox.’ … It just feels utterly irresponsible.”
Meanwhile, Folsom Street Executive Director Angel Adeyoha stated, “It’s important to remember that not all viruses and infections are the same and they don’t all have the same impacts. Therefore all interventions don’t need to look the same. … We are trying to keep our reactions (to monkeypox) proportional and in balance, and constantly balancing two conflicting needs.”
Likewise, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation has encouraged attendance at the event.
“There’s never been a better time to dress from top to bottom in latex or leather…keeping your skin covered is a sure-fire way to prevent exposures of monkeypox,” the organization suggested.
https://twitter.com/SFAIDSFound/status/1552413524323860481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1552413524323860481%7Ctwgr%5E7fecd899cdca061e7950ab0a968e9628b29e0583%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F48hills.org%2F2022%2F07%2Fgay-men-dore-alley-festival-folsom-street-monkeypox-plan%2F
Michael Davidson, 40, a regular attendee of “Dore Alley” told Mercury News, “It’s going to be a super-spreader event, to use a COVID term.”
Still, the only openly HIV-positive member of San Francisco’s board of supervisors, Matt Dorsey, argued against canceling.
“There is nothing prohibitive in the public health order that argues to cancel Dore Alley, and I think doing so would deny the community the benefit of a community-based partner,” he said.
Informed members of the public seem to be grasping what agenda driven groups and politicians have not as concerns over stigma associated with the virus have been given precedent over common sense solutions to curb further development of an existing problem.
Even Dr. Jorge Salinas, a Stanford University hospital epidemiologist, placed those concerns ahead of reality.
“Monkeypox is already suffering from stigma so I think that’s another reason to be very careful with fully associating gay and bisexual men and monkeypox. This is an infectious disease that does not discriminate,” Salinas told Mercury News.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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