'What's a Monkeypox?' San Fran Leather Fest Goes on Despite Public Health Warning from WHO

San Francisco’s annual “Up Your Alley” gay fetish festival will go on as planned, despite monkeypox being declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). What could go wrong?

Up Your Alley by @FolsomStEvents is tomorrow! Come celebrate community, connection, support, and sexual liberation for all – we'll be going hard on the DJ stage from 11am till 6pm! 💙🖤🤍❤️🤍💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/caQ5aAo4IN

— Shay Tiziano (@ShayBlondie) July 30, 2022

Are the festival organizers asking attendees to be wary and safe? You decide. This message is from the Up Your Alley home page:

Head for the infamous corner of Folsom and Dore.

Dive into San Francisco’s notorious, kinky, leather block party!

Wear your gear, your leather, or your birthday suit; just come out and help keep SOMA kinky and queer! (Note: SOMA is “South of Market,” a San Francisco neighborhood popular for its gay leather bars.)

Visit the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District booth, next to the Folsom Street Merchandise booth at the corner of Folsom and Dore.

Visit folsomstreet.org for info.

Check out the Andymatic Up Your Alley/Dore Weekend Party Guide 2022 for more fun.

Bring proof of vaccination, and an open mind.

I hope they’re asking for proof of monkeypox vaccination, not the Bat Stew Flu “vaccine,” but hey, who knows? Just show up naked and open-minded.

FACT-O-RAMA! Showing up naked and open-minded at most outdoor festivals will likely result in an arrest.

San Francisco has 257 confirmed or probable cases of monkeypox.

Despite the monkeypox pandemic wreaking havoc on the gay community, the San Francisco Aids Foundation (SFAF) cartoon mascot, a douche bottle named “Douchie” (that is not a joke) is urging gay men to attend the “Up Your Alley” street festival. The festival is full of “hot hairy daddies, hungry pigs, BDSM babes and kinks of all kinds,” says Douchie, who shares some ideas to remain safe, adding “you may choose to use one or two of these suggestions — or none at all.” The ideas to help remain pox-free include:

• Play dress up: There’s never been a better time to dress from top to bottom in latex or leather. Keeping your skin covered is a sure-fire way to prevent exposures to monkeypox. …
• It’s OK to be picky with your sex partners. …
• Cover up your own bumps: See a bump on your skin and worried that it might be monkeypox? If you’re not sure, and you still want to go out tonight, cover it up with a bandaid or clothing before you go out.

Remember when the left told us to stay home if we had a mere symptom of the Hong Kong Fluey? Today, gay men are being told to cover that unidentified bump with a band-aid and head out for some leather fun.

Now might be a good time to remind folks that this whole monkeypox thing started earlier this year at a gay leather fetish festival in Antwerp called Darklands.

Related: After Shocking Monkey Business, Belgium First to Lock Down Over Monkeypox. Who’s Next?

The Up Your Alley event shows all the signs of becoming a superspreader weekend, yet for some, the show must go on. Some people are expressing concern for themselves and others and will not attend, but Twitter is already crawling with videos of the naughty shenanigans taking place.