I remember the day the U.S. confirmed its first case of monkeypox. It was mid-May, and I had just interviewed Steven Thrasher for my podcast, Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness. He has a new book out, The Viral Underclass, about how different classes of people bear an unfair burden of the cost of viruses—fitting, because since then, monkeypox cases have increased exponentially, primarily affecting queer men. Watching the government’s botched response to monkeypox has been surreal, and in many ways, I believe it’s been fueled by homophobia and transphobia.