The San Francisco event, which is expected to draw 5,000 people, comes amid deep anxieties across the LGBTQ community over the outbreak, which has proliferated amid a shortage of vaccines.
SAN FRANCISCO — Amid a burgeoning monkeypox outbreak that has so far disproportionately affected gay and bisexual men, Bay Area public health officials and organizers of one of the region’s most beloved LGBTQ events are walking a difficult line between preventing the spread of the virus, while fighting the stigma of the virus as a disease limited to the LGBTQ community.
“If people are not educated and they don’t know the risk, of course, it’s a very, very high risk possibility to be a spreader,” said Joe Hawkins, director of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center. “We’re really trying to meet people where they are and just educate them about what’s really factual about this monkeypox and its spread.”
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation has actively encouraged people to attend the event, while also listing safety advice on its website for prospective attendees, including sticking to less crowded areas and attending fewer events that feature skin-to-skin contact. In a statement, the San Francisco Department of Public Health said it is aware of the Dore Alley event and is in communication with organizers. The department will have an official booth at the festival to educate attendees about monkeypox.
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