IN THE LIMELIGHT

[TRT’s exclusive Part I of this story was published in the September 2022 issue of The Rainbow Times. Part II is below.]

At the same time, Ard, who is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School noted the significance of informing the community that is most susceptible of contracting the virus while not losing focus that monkeypox does not discriminate for who becomes infected.

“Although anyone can acquire monkeypox, the focus is on MSM currently because of the epidemiologic observation that most infections in this outbreak are among MSM,” the professor of medicine added. “Monkeypox spreads through close contact primarily, and it is currently clustering among social and sexual networks of MSM who have had close contact. That being said, the infection has, and will, affect others, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

Rather than the general public becoming fixated on whom is most susceptible at the moment, Ard encourages others to react in a supportive way, rather than accusatory.

“The approach should be one of ‘this community is facing a threat; let’s support them and devote resources to addressing the outbreak’ rather than one of blame or discrimination,” he said.

“Fortunately, I have seen more of the former than the latter in the response to monkeypox.”

Sexual Transmission

According to the Dr. Mayer, although monkeypox is not a classic sexually transmitted infection (STI), it can be spread that way and it may be subjectively defined.

“ … It can be transmitted [through sex], and through close bodily contact, which will fit into some people's definition of sex, and not others,” Mayer said.

Dr. Levin explained her analysis and how the virus is similar to others that have been recognized as an STI while still having its independent transmission factors as well.

“I disagree that [the] monkeypox virus is not an STI. It is. But, it is more than just an STI. [For example,] herpes is considered an STI even though it is spread through skin-to-skin contact and no penetration is required for transmission.”

However, she also explained other likely modes of infection.

“It is important for folks to know exactly how it is transmitted — by skin to skin contact but also probably through close contact with respiratory droplets (saliva, breath) and from _items_ that may have had exposure to those fluids/substances,” Levin noted. “

… These are items such as sheets, towels, and clothing that have been in contact with lesions or respiratory se-

By Philippa Punchard: Quick read with lots of info.

By: Terri Schlichenmeyer* Special to TRT

Take a left at the first road, then right and right again.

It's always a good idea to know where you’re going – but then again, getting lost can have its benefits, too. Veering off an easy path gives you a chance to see things, maybe even something better. You can get all kinds of directions for life but sometimes, as in “Gender Pioneers” by Philippa Punchard, you just gotta step off the road.

In 1912, French audiences were thrilled by the talent of a trapeze artist known as Barbette. The lovely Barbette flew over the heads of Parisians solo, gracefully, and the best citizens followed those performances avidly. By

1919, Barbette added to the end of the performance the revelation that “she” was really Vander Clyde Broadway, a male performer.

We might think that being transgender is “new” and just “a Western thing,” but Punchard has reason to disagree: history is dotted with men blending as women, and women living as men. As Christine Burns says in the foreword, “Trans people are not a new thing.” development, education, healthcare, housing, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, reproductive freedom, transportation, voting rights, expansion of the Child Tax Credit, and more.

Some seemed to do it as a means to an end: Ellen and William Craft wore clothing of the opposite sex in order to escape slavery in 1848. Betty Cooper may have worn men’s clothing for the same reason in 1771. Neither case, says Punchard, indicates “classical” trans behavior, but we'll never know for sure.

Of utmost importance to our readers, are some openly discriminatory acts aimed at the LGBTQ+ community in Boston. An affordable LGBTQ+ senior housing project in the city was vandalized (https://is.gd/Rbeb3A) with homophobic and threatening graffiti in July. The next month, Boston’s Children’s Hospital received a bomb threat (https://is.gd/LTGz9D) for providing gender-affirming care to trans youth patients. If elected governor, Healey told NBC News (https://is.gd/iSpzh3), that she intends to use her “bully pulpit to fight back against the historic number of antiLGBTQ bills circulating in state legislatures … and the seemingly pervasive threats of violence the community has been subjected to this year.”

Healey was instrumental in developing the strategy, building the case, and arguing the first successful challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

“Imagine the federal government giving money for the construction of schools and telling us that we can build them for white children but not for black children,” Healey said, as reported by the Advocate (https://is.gd/nztEQZ) during the challenge to DOMA. “Or imagine that the federal government would give money to subsidize health care for men but not for women.

“That’s what DOMA does to Massachusetts. It gives us funding but tells us to treat one category of married people differently than another. It forces us to violate equal protection.”

In addition, Healey went on to be the first openly gay Attorney General in the nation. Now, Healey is on the cusp of becoming the first “out” Governor, making history once again.

At this point in our nation’s history where basic rights are being overturned, where women have lost autonomy over their own bodies, where members of the transgender and LGBQIA+ communities are still deprived of basic humanity and rights, where people of color do not enjoy the same freedoms as their white counterparts, and the Supreme Court is expected to continue to dismantle civil rights protections on every front, etc., there isn’t a second where local protections should be taken for granted. That is why Healey is the best candidate for governor and the candidate whose actions have already proven to be for the betterment of us all, not just the elite or members of one party.

Other qualifications

Healey holds credentials (https://is.gd/dRR63u) that include having served from 2007 to 2013 in the attorney general’s office first as the Chief of the Civil Rights Division and then as Chief of the Public Protection