Gay groups in France have blamed the current state of the country’s monkeypox crisis on the state’s alleged “inaction” in tackling the disease.
France’s government has not done enough to properly deal with the mass outbreak of monkeypox, gay rights groups in the country have claimed, while insisting that homosexual men’s right to “live their sexuality fully with the number of partners they want” not be infringed.
The criticism comes as the EU and other Western regions experience rising cases of the disease that, in normal times, generally only present in some African nations, with the disease disproportionally affecting men who have sex with other men (MSM).
According to gay omnibus organisation Inter-LGBT, the current state of the crisis in France — which has seen 1,567 confirmed cases of the disease — is the fault of the country’s government, with gay groups finding fault with the state’s response to the crisis when compared with the country’s handling of COVID-19.
“Inter-LGBT protests against the government’s inaction, lack of preparation and transparency,” a statement on the Inter-LGBT website reads, which described monkeypox as “wreaking havoc in France for 2 months”.
The organisation’s post went on to demand more transparency from authorities in regards to the country’s stock of smallpox vaccines — which it believes should be used to help prevent further monkeypox infections — as well as to widen the eligibility for those who would be entitled for a jab.
“…judgments in morality have never been effective in terms of health,” the group wrote. “In this context, Inter-LGBT reminds everyone of the right to live their sexuality fully with the number of partners they want, while taking into account the reality of the epidemic.”
“…because Monkeypox is a highly contagious disease, we ask that vaccination be extended to all MSM, places of LGBT [solidarity]… can, by their promiscuity, promote contagion by the virus,” it also read.
Having been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation over the weekend, monkeypox continues to run rampant in Europe, with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reporting over 10,000 cases being detected within the EU last week.
Of those infected with the disease, the vast majority appear to be men who have sex with other men, with Germany’s Robert Koch Institute saying last week that, out of the country’s then-2,191 cases of the disease, only five had been reported as occuring in women.
The UK government has now recommended that those suffering from the disease refrain from having sex with other people, while popular gay dating app Grindr has issued warnings to its userbase in the UK and Europe.
The EU meanwhile has been busy both green-lighting and acquiring vaccinations for the disease, with the bloc giving the okay to pharma company Bavarian Nordic to market its smallpox jab as a Monkeypox vaccine.
According to a report by Reuters, the approval will allow the Danish firm to market the jab specifically as being suitable for monkeypox.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.