Boomer Banks Profiled In New York Times Piece On Monkeypox Stigma
Thank you to everyone who let us into their lives over the last few weeks, and who trusted us to tell the deeply personal stories of their experiences with monkeypox. My latest with @JoeKGoldstein @sharonNYT and @s_garl https://t.co/Rtpz8mxFnn
— Liam Stack (@liamstack) August 31, 2022
The article linked in the above tweet (and here) might be behind a paywall at the NYT, but there’s an unlocked version of it here.
And here’s an excerpt, in which multi-award winning performer Boomer Banks shares his experience after contracting monkeypox earlier this summer:
The doctor urged him to contact his primary care provider, who told [Boomer Banks] to call the Department of Health, who told him to go to the emergency room, and then, when [Banks] pushed back, suggested a local clinic.
When he arrived there, he found doctors and nurses waiting for him in full protective equipment, as if he had the plague. Some seemed scared, and all were “a little baffled,” he said. The medical staff stood in the doorway to speak to him from a distance. “They were in hazmat suits. It just felt very sci-fi.”
Later, staff members told him he was the first person they tested for monkeypox. Some were caring, but others looked at him, he said, “like I could kill them.”
[Banks] went home to Hell’s Kitchen, where he waited eight days for his test results. He found friends to babysit his dog during the month he spent in quarantine, out of fear he might infect his pet. New lesions appeared on his face on his 42nd birthday, and their extreme itchiness kept him awake for two days. The lesions left his face “ravaged,” he said.
[NYT]
Boomer is one of at least a dozen gay porn stars who’ve been hit with the virus since June, including Big C, Brian Bonds, and more. Thankfully, all have made a full recovery.
