Race for monkeypox vaccines exposes global health inequality

study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) found that online discussions linking the virus to the LGBTQ community skyrocketed following the outbreak of the virus in May.False claims have suggested that monkeypox was pre-planned by the world's elite as part of the so-called "plandemic".But other Twitter users have predominantly used the outbreak to spread online hate and disinformation targeting the LGBTQ community.Social media platforms have increasingly been accused of facilitating the spread of homophobic content related to the virus.In a statement to Euronews, a Twitters spokesperson said "while we have made recent strides in giving people greater control to manage their safety, we know there is still work to be done as our product, policy and engineering teams continue to work at scale and pace to build a healthier Twitter."According to the ISD research, anti-LGBTQ narratives have been used to specifically demonise gay men on Twitter, falsely presenting them as the source of the outbreak.Disinformation also suggested that LGBTQ people were a danger to children after the first two US children were infected with monkeypox in July.Conspiracists and far-right voices -- such as US Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene -- claimed without proof that the children must have been infected by sexual interactions with gay men.Monkeypox is not considered a sexually-transmitted disease (STD) because it is not spread through bodily fluids during sexual contact, but in droplets via respiratory tracts or from the bedding or clothes of an infected person.But the online disinformation plays into the false narrative that all LGBTQ people are "groomers" or paedophiles and want to turn children queer. Twitter has

A pop-up monkeypox vaccine clinic will take place at S4, 3911 Cedar Springs Road from 4-8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9 and from noon-3 p.m. on Sept. 11. Enter from the back parking lot. Use the QR code above to register. The clinic is sponsored by Dallas County Health and Human Services and Nomi Health. Vaccines will be administered free of charge.

The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre handed over the podium to the Biden-Harris administration's monkeypox coordinator Bob Fenton and deputy coordinator Dr. Demetre Daskalakis to give an update on the outbreak of MPV on Wednesday.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama, visiting the White House Wednesday for the unveiling of her official portrait and that of former President Barack Obama, took several swipes at the man who succeeded her husband in the Oval Office and staged an insurrection and a failed coup to try to extend his term.

LGBTQ+ and health groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to block Florida’s new rule excluding gender-affirming care from Medicaid coverage.Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project, and National Health Law Program, together with international law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, filed the suit on behalf of four plaintiffs: August Dekker, Brit Rothstein, and two minors identified under pseudonyms, Susan (represented by her parents, Jane and John Doe) and K.F. (represented by his mother, Jade Ladue).The lawsuit, Dekker et al.

The Washington Post.The suspect had been described as between 5’6″ and 5’9″ with a slim frame and a beard, between 18 to 20 years old, wearing flared jeans, a T-shirt, and a bucket hat. He allegedly fled the scene with another male wearing a white T-shirt.The pro-authoritarian, right-wing commentary and opinion site Remix claims the suspect, identified as Nuradi A., is a migrant and former junior boxing champion from Chechnya, a majority-Muslim region of Russia, who had applied for refugee status but had his request rejected by the German government.Typically, that means he should have been deported back to Russia, but Germany halted all deportations back to Eastern European countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the instability in the region. While Remix and other right-wing sites, as well as fascist political parties, have been eager to link the Münster attack with other anti-LGBTQ attacks committed by Muslim migrants across Europe, some on social media have speculated that Nuradi may be gay himself, possibly having fled Chechnya due to the ongoing purge of gay and bisexual men there.A vigil celebrating Malte’s life and condemning anti-trans violence was held in front of Münster’s historic town hall on Friday night, drawing an estimated crowd of 6,500 people.On Saturday, a judge granted prosecutors’ request to keep Nuradi in detention while he awaits trial.

Another star has left the stage of Secret Celebrity Drag Race, but her light is sure to linger for weeks to come.Milli Von Sunshine has been officially revealed to be two time Tony winner and Glee alum Jenna Ushkowitz.

Drag Race UK is back with an incredible lineup of talented queens to steal our breath away in season 4. BBC Three made the long-awaited announcement at 9 am this morning, September 7, introducing the stunning faces who make up the cast, including Drag Race UK‘s first Trans contestant and a Drag SOS star. The […]

A Federal judge in Texas has ruled partially in favor of plaintiffs that argued that requiring insurance companies to cover medications for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, violates their rights on religious grounds. Jonathan Mitchell, who founded a one-person law firm in 2018 intending to challenge decades-old Supreme Court rulings, brought the case Braidwood Management Inc., vs. Xavier Becerra, in the Northern District of Texas. There, United States district judge Reed O’Conner ruled in favor of plaintiffs who argued that paying for insurance that covers PrEP violates their religious beliefs because PrEP “enable[s and encourages] homosexual behavior.”In the 42-page ruling, O’Connor writes, “The PrEP mandate violates Braidwood’s rights under [Religious Freedom Restoration Act].”Mitchell helped draft Texas’s Senate Bill 8, the restrictive 2021 abortion law that made everyday people bounty hunters who could sue anybody they believed may have been involved with the procedure.O’Connor was appointed by George W.

Drag Race UK is making herstory with the cast of its highly anticipated fourth season, which is set to be released in just a few weeks.

(Image via WOW Presents Plus)

Drag Race UK fans have expressed their disappointment after it was confirmed that Victoria Scone would not be returning for the show’s fourth season.

The cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’s fourth season has finally been announced and viewers are declaring it “the best” promo shoot in a long time.

Explosions boom down the telephone line as former U.S. Marine Eddy Etue explains why he gave up a quiet life on the Californian coast to volunteer in the Ukrainian military as it battles Russia’s invasion.

Halt! Drop everything, stop what you’re doing etc: the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season four is finally here.

How to support a friend through a breakupHow to stop physically comparing yourself to othersHow to train for a marathon with your dogDrag queens, trans people and all members of the LGBTQ+ community will not hide away in backstreet gay bars, like we did in the past. We will always put the fight for equality before profit.If I retire and all drag artists are treated with respect, kindness and paid equally – as they deserve – I can be happy.Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. Share your views in the comments below. MORE : There is nothing inappropriate about drag queens performing for children MORE : How Drag Race’s Ginny Lemon shattered huge LGBTQ+ boundaries in Commonwealth opening ceremony: ‘This is a huge deal for queer people everywhere‘ MORE : I coached EastEnders’ new drag queen character – she’s going to be iconic

(CNN) -- At this point in the Covid-19 pandemic, much of the United States has slowly moved away from following or enforcing mitigation measures. Most public schools plan to keep masks optional this fall. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommends staying at least 6 feet away from other people to reduce the risk of exposure.Among public health leaders, there has been growing division around this pivot, and that stems from frustration around how the pandemic has been managed in the United States, said Art Caplan, founding head of the division of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York."This is the most powerful division I can think of among mainstream public health people," Caplan said."By the way, it reinforces something else: It's a division based on ethics.

Alleged Russian asset and COVID-denier Rand Paul wished his wife, Kelley, a very happy birthday on Twitter over the holiday weekend and, honestly, we’re offended on her behalf.Related: Rand Paul said something shocking about Ukraine and he might want to stay off Twitter today“Happy birthday to my brilliant and beautiful wife @KelleyAshbyPaul!” the homophobic senator tweeted, along with a suuuper pixelated photo of 59-year-old Kelley on the set of Rupaul’s Drag Race at the 2021 Young Women’s Leadership Summit hosted by the anti-LGBTQ hate group Turning Point USA.? Happy birthday to my brilliant and beautiful wife @KelleyAshbyPaul! pic.twitter.com/t18GvU2xod— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 3, 2022Seriously, why that photo???Rand and Kelley have been married since 1990 and have three children. They have also survived at least two near-death experiences together.In August 2020, they claimed they were almost killed when a group of peaceful protestors approached them on their on their way back to their hotel from the White House following Donald Trump‘s 2020 Republican National Convention speech.

Drag Race UK finalist Bimini Bon Boulash shared their “disgust” after a boy was attacked leaving Great Yarmouth Pride last week.

The newest member of the legendary RuPaul’s Drag Race multiverse is Drag Race Sweden (aka Drag Race Sverige). Fans have known about this spin-off for a few months, but now the host for the latest international edition of the ultimate drag competition has been revealed.On Sept. 6, Entertainment Weekly released the news that drag artist Robert Fux is stepping into the hosting chair for the upcoming season.

My colleagues in the mental health professions have often lamented the lack of emergency mental health assistance available to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. We have had to rely on services available through 911 which, while able to respond to an emergency, are not trained mental health professionals and therefore not able to provide the level of response needed in these situations.

(CNN) — A court filing from 16 current and former employees of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, along with the Texas State Employees Union, says the agency is "on the brink of collapse"following the state's decision to investigate the gender-affirming care of minors as potential child abuse.The brief cites a "string of departures" within the agency since the directive was put in place in February, arguing remaining workers will be spread dangerously thin.The amicus curiae (Friend of the Court) brief was filed with the state's Third District Court of Appeals, which is considering whether the policy, prompted by an opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton and ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott, was implemented legally.

Turing says her body “shut down” on the latest episode of Drag Race Philippines.

The Whale, at the Venice Film Festival yesterday.The movie, in which Fraser plays an obese, 600lb, gay man seeking to reconnect with his daughter, went down well with its audience. In fact, they gave it a six-minute standing ovation at the Sala Grande.Related: Brendan Fraser to play a 600lb, gay recluse in new movie, The WhaleFraser and director Darren Aronofsky were in attendance for the screening and took the stage.

Bad Bunny after the Puerto Rican trap star locked lips with a male backup dancer at the MTV VMAs.And in 2019, a straight male concertgoer apparently shouted out that he’d turn gay for singer Troye Sivan. (“Troye was like, ‘I don’t think that’s how it works, but OK,’” an eyewitness tweeted.)These homo-curious hall passes might just be empty promises, of course, or they might be expressions of heteroflexiblity, an increasingly popular sexual identity.Or these comments might be dispatches from deep in the closet, as one Twitter user observed.

(Images via Twitter)

She’s a winner, baby! RuPaul has won her seventh Creative Arts Emmy award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Tucked away in the California desert, where windmills line the sprawling hills and rainbows adorn the crosswalks, a sizable progressive L.G.B.T.Q. community has turned a once reliably Republican stronghold into a battleground in the fight for control of Congress, giving Democrats hope for picking up a House seat that has long been beyond their reach.

ABOVE: The great Johnny Slash.

Club Cumming Presents A Queer Comedy Extravaganza.Related: 5 queer male comedians making stand-up a more accepting (and hilarious) placeThe special is hosted by Cumming himself, and the line-up features seven LGBTQ acts on the rise. Collectively, this exciting roster of talent represents “not only the diversity of the queer spectrum, but also of comedy styling—from stand-up to characters to musical performances.”Ahead of the special’s premiere, we’ve assembled a quick rundown of each of these queer entertainers, letting you know a little bit more about them and sharing some of our favorite work of theirs, whether it be tweets, a TikTok, a music video, or just some darn good stand-up.Watch the trailer for Club Cumming Presents A Queer Comedy Extravaganza below—which premiere Friday, Sep. 2 @ 10pm on Showtime—and then read on below to learn about these eight queer comedians you need to know.  A post shared by joe castle baker (@joecastlebaker)This comedian/actor/writer has been called “The Mr.

Ross Lynch is having his ab-bearing, hip-shaking moment in the sun, and we’re all the better for it.The former Disney star has turned full shirtless band heartthrob, making The Driver Era’s audiences fight to hold it together along every stop of the tour.Buzzfeed recently sat him down to read a few of the thirsty tweets folks have been sending out about him recently. Some of them are almost too tame, while others can NOT be repeated in mixed company.Halfway through the video, he has an adorable realization:“i think half of these tweets are from boys” BYEpic.twitter.com/00OHgtYopT— ִ (@dilfsverse) September 2, 2022Knowing the gays, it could be wayyyy more than half.Related: Singer Ross Lynch gives an eyeful in viral clip and fans are completely parchedThe video’s selection is a cute mix of adoration and absolute mess.

A $47.1 billion emergency funding request has been made by the White House to cover anticipated costs associated with Ukraine, COVID-19, monkeypox, and natural disasters. In the Biden administration’s view, the funding request will be part of a short-term spending package that will fund the government until September 30, when the current spending package expires.The White House intends to fund the testing, research, and development of new vaccines and therapeutics as part of the updated COVID-19 funding request.

Gay Health Network (GHN) has today, September 2, published a letter to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly demanding further action surrounding monkeypox. While the organisation welcomed the plan to commence vaccinating at-risk people, and the news that injections would be administered intradermally, it also expressed concerns surrounding the rollout and wider financial support. Due to […]

Drag Race UK legend Tayce opened up about homophobia still being "rife" across the country, claiming she was blocked from having gay friends visit her hotel rooms while on tour by "judgey" reception staff.

The MPOWER programme created by HIV Ireland has now launched a free counselling service for people impacted by the current monkeypox outbreak. The service offers free counselling to anyone who is in need of support. If you have recently been diagnosed with monkeypox and you are finding it difficult to deal with it or if […]

Harry Styles’ recent comments deriding the fact that ‘so much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it… it kind of removes the tenderness from it’, I felt a pang of discomfort. Hubert and Antonin’s encounter – like other sex scenes I’ve seen since – didn’t align with Styles’ reading of them. The singer and actor was talking about his upcoming role in My Policeman, in which he plays a 1950s closeted cop in a love triangle with his wife and another man. It’s a film that, according to Styles, portrays its relations ‘sensitively’. I’m all for this movie, but I can’t let the hitmaker’s comments slide. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videoFirstly, I disagree that the majority of gay sex scenes that we do see are lacking in tenderness.But it also seemed like the former One Directioner was suggesting there’s some sort of barrage of same-sex lovemaking on film in Hollywood.

The fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK hasn’t even aired, yet casting for season five is already open!

Gregg Goldstein Since 2007, Venice’s Queer Lion Award has reflected and elevated the best in LGBTQ cinema. Fifteen years later, founder Daniel N. Casagrande said this year’s Venice Film Festival will be “the most queer edition ever.” Among the fest’s 30 LGBTQ-themed titles, 19 are competing for the Queer Lion, including a record six films from the main competition. They include Todd Field’s orchestra conductor drama “Tár,” starring Cate Blanchett; Darren Aronofsky’s estranged gay father study “The Whale,” featuring Brendan Fraser; Laura Poitras’ doc “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” chronicling bisexual artist Nan Goldin’s life and anti-opioid crusade; Andrea Pallaoro’s trans woman family drama “Monica”; Emanuele Crialese’s “L’immensità,” starring Penélope Cruz as the mother of a transgender child; and Gianni Amelio’s “Il signore delle formiche,” the true story of an Italian artist jailed under an infamous anti-gay law.

Russian lawmakers have introduced a proposal that would significantly increase fines for individuals that violate the country’s ‘gay propaganda’ law. 

(Image via BuzzFeed)

Russia is considering doubling fines for violation of its so-called gay propaganda law.The law, adopted in 2013, bans any positive discussion of LGBTQ+ issues or identities in venues accessible to minors. It has been used to ban Pride events and punish LGBTQ+ activists.

Police officials in Massachusetts continue investigating a bomb threat at Boston Children's Hospital since Tuesday. For weeks, right-wing troll Chaya Raichik, who runs the transphobic Libs of TikTok Twitter account, has aimed her followers at the hospital, falsely claiming that inside, doctors are mutilating children under the guise of gender-affirming care.  Somebody made a threatening phone call to the hospital at 8 p.m., but no bombs were found, according to the Boston Police Department, Boston's NBC affiliate WBTS reports.Before 10 p.m., local Boston NBC reporter Oscar Margáin tweeted a video from the scene showing a significant police response at the hospital.

Bad Bunny fans have come out in defence of the Latin rapper over claims of “queerbaiting”.

Hollywood has-been/Donald Trump loyalist Kevin Sorbo managed to briefly trend on Twitter this morning after posting another dumb tweet, this time attacking the entire state of California for some unknown reason.Related: Former actor Scott Baio’s attempt to own libs with photo of rearranged mugs in craft store backfires“California is a joke,” the 63-year-old Bernie the Dolphin star griped without providing any additional context that might help illuminate why he feels this way. We could try to speculate but, honestly, what’s the point?California is a joke.— Kevin Sorbo (@ksorbs) August 31, 2022Sorbo, who has over 1 million Twitter followers, is no stranger to saying incredibly stupid things online.

A children’s hospital in Washington, D.C., has become the most recent victim of an online movement to vilify medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to trans youth. Children’s National Hospital has been under fire from far-right extremists after the far-right Twitter account Libs of TikTok posted an audio recording that features a staff member appearing to say that the hospital provides hysterectomies to minors, according to the Associated Press.Since the Libs of TikTok posted the recording, the hospital has faced "a large volume of hostile and threatening phone calls and emails,” a hospital spokesperson told the news wire. The exposed host of the account, real estate broker and transphobe Chaya Raichik, posed as a mother seeking care for her 16-year-old transgender son.After asking her son’s age, a supposed staff member informs Raichik her son is “in the clear” for a hysterectomy.

The latest weekly release of monkeypox case numbers by the D.C. Department of Health shows there were a total cumulative number of 431 monkeypox cases in the District as of Wednesday, Aug. 31, an increase of 26 cases since 405 cases reported one week earlier.

BREAKING NEWS ALERT: We finally have a release date for the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

Whitney Rose vehemently denied having anything to do with her Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City costar Heather Gay's black eye on Wednesday morning.The 36-year-old country singer addressed the shocking injury, which was unveiled in the latest trailer for the series, after a fan account tweeted at her.'Did you do this yes or no,' wrote the account while including a closeup of Heather's face.  Wasn't me! Whitney Rose, 36, vehemently denied having anything to do with her Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City costar Heather Gay's black eye on Wednesday morning Ouch! Heather, 40, revealed the shocking injury in the season three trailer for RHOSLCWithin minutes, Whitney replied, 'NO! Of course not.' Heather, who is Whitney's cousin and has written about her painful experiences with the Mormon church after getting divorced, had a sizable black eye that was completely swollen shut in the clip. However, there weren't any obvious injuries on her aside from the swollen eye.Despite her denial that she had anything to do with the black eye, the musician was an obvious culprit, as she appeared to have a physical altercation with Heather in the series' latest trailer.