Spanish LGBT groups wary of monkeypox stigma ahead of Europe’s largest pride parade
- The WHO has reported nearly 200 cases of monkeypox in more than 20 countries not usually known to have outbreaks of the unusual disease
- Some people, particularly gay and bisexual men, believe there is a touch of homophobic hysteria in the wider public’s reaction to the rare outbreak
Spanish health authorities on Friday said there were now 98 confirmed cases in the country, the highest number in Europe. The tally includes one woman, the region of Madrid said on Friday.
Health authorities have centred their investigations on links between a Gay Pride event in the Canary Islands that drew 80,000 people earlier this month, and cases linked to a Madrid sauna.
But some people, particularly gay and bisexual men, believe there is a touch of homophobic hysteria in the wider public’s reaction to the rare outbreak outside of Africa, where it has long been endemic.
Most of the known cases in Europe have been among men who have sex with men, according to authorities in Britain, Spain, Germany and Portugal. A top adviser to the World Health Organization said the outbreak was likely triggered by sexual activity at two recent mass events in Europe.
The outbreak in Spain comes in the run-up to Madrid’s Gay Pride celebration in July. It is expected to draw large crowds, unlike the last two years’ events, which were scaled down or cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions. Organisers say the city’s last pre-pandemic Pride celebration, in 2019, drew roughly 1.6 million revellers, though police put the figure at around 400,000.