Dr. Demetre Daskalakis is an accomplished physician, gay health advocate and one of the country’s leading advocates for people living with HIV.
In other words, he sounds like a perfect person to help lead the White House’s mpox response. With the World Health Organization declaring a new strand of mpox a global health emergency, Dr. Daskalakis once again finds himself at the center of public health policy in the U.S.
And conservatives are, once again, trying to discredit him for being an out and proud and sex-positive gay man. But they’re failing, as each smear leads to Daskalakis’ profile being elevated even more.
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A Columbia/NYU/Harvard grad, Daskalakis says he decided to dedicate his medical life to HIV prevention when he was an undergrad, and took a trip to San Francisco as part of a project to display the AIDS memorial quilt. When the exhibit opened for the quilt, he saw men his age who were physically disintegrating, due to the horrors of the disease.
That’s when Daskalakis discovered his purpose, he told POLITICO after he was elevated to White House Deputy Mpox Coordinator in 2022. “My job is going to be to never let anyone get HIV or if people have HIV, make sure that they don’t get sick and die. It hit me like that,” he said.
Living up to his word, Daskalakis’ harm reduction efforts when he worked for the NYC Health Department are legendary. He was known for administering STI tests in sex clubs and bathhouses, and meeting members of the queer community where they sexualize and socialize. (The rate of new HIV infections in the city among gay and bisexual men fell by 35% from 2013-17.)
“When I was in med school, Dr. Daskalakis was best known for starting a program that helped administer meningitis vaccines in bathhouses. He’s a personal hero of mine and has saved more lives than all of the hateful sacks of sh*t on this website combined,” said a gay doctor on social media.
When I was in med school, Dr. Daskalakis was best known for starting a program that helped administer meningitis vaccines in bathhouses. He’s a personal hero of mine and has saved more lives than all of the hateful sacks of sh*t on this website combined. pic.twitter.com/SeRNHUy9GK
— Andrew Johnstone, MD (@pallbro) August 18, 2024
During his time with the NYC Health Department, Daskalakis popularized “status-neutral care,” which aims to treat all patients the same, regardless of HIV status. As explained by HIV Plus Mag:
“[The] approach includes testing all patients unaware of their HIV status and then offering follow-up care, regardless of the test’s results. The goal is to keep as many people as possible either HIV-negative or unable to transmit the virus if they are HIV-positive by getting those individuals immediately on treatment.”
At the end of 2020, Daskalakis took a job with the CDC, where he served as Director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. He worked in that role until Joe Biden appointed him to the White House mpox response team when the outbreak started in 2022.
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The queers took to social media to call out The Blaze for attacking Cherry.
That’s when hom*ophobes first discovered his Instagram, and tried to shame him for… the crime of being hot and fun. They posted his thirst traps and pointed to pentagram tattoo, accusing him of being a Satanist.
“I wish I were that interesting,” Daskalakis quipped at the time. (The tat actually represents the figurative light at the end of the tunnel, which Daskalakis says encompasses his personal history as a bullied child and living through the AIDS crisis.)
With 30-plus tattoos and a sculpted bod, Daskalakis sees no shame in his appearance (and neither do we)!
“I spent a lot of money on my tattoos and a lot of time at the gym,” he said. “I’m showing it off.”
Though Daskalakis has returned to his duties at the CDC, there’s little doubt he’s left his mark on the federal mpox response. Originally criticized for a slow vaccine rollout, the Biden Administration increased vaccine and testing availability in the latter half of 2022.
The first outbreak was quelled in the U.S., thanks to a proactive response from the gay community. A 2024 study found the viral spread began to decline even before 10% of gay men were vaccinated, thanks to harm reduction efforts.
The work of Daskalakis and like-minded queer doctors stands in sharp contrast to the failed health policy of abstinence, which has historically been championed by social conservatives.
We’re all way better off for it.
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Public health messages play a crucial role before vaccines are rolled out.
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