Since the outbreak of monkeypox earlier this year, gay men across the globe have been on high alert—many of them changing their sexual habits in order to decrease their chances of contracting the viral disease. With the slow vaccine rollout, the outbreak has had a profound effect on performers in the gay porn industry, including Silver Steele (who chronicled his battle on Twitter) and newcomer Greg Riley, who talked about his bout with monkeypox with Marc MacNamara and John Hill on the Discretion Advised Podcast.
Now, Boomer Banks is sharing his story. The veteran performer is one of seven people profiled in yesterday’s New York Times article “Pain, Fear, Stigma: What People Who Survived Monkeypox Want You to Know,” which focuses on “devastating symptoms, their frustration over finding care and their efforts to help each other when doctors and officials have failed.”
Banks notes that he noticed an “odd-looking” pimple on his face on June 2, a second one soon showing on the palm of his hand. With no health insurance, he soon called his former doctor. Writes the Times:
The doctor urged him to contact his primary care provider, who told (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 spent a month in quarantine. As he tells the Times, new lesions appeared on his face on his birthday on his birthday (June 13th), and the “extreme itchiness kept him awake for two days. The lesions left his face ‘ravaged,’ he said.
Banks tells the Times that the experience triggered painful memories given his past addiction to meth and when he was hospitalized for a month with pneumonia (as the article shares, the performer “has been sober and had an undetectable H.I.V. viral load since then.”
“Being scared, not knowing what was going on,” (Banks) said. “All the talking to doctors, and them not knowing what to do. It made me scared for me. It made me scared for my community.”
You can read the full article here. Banks has since used his Twitter to share information about monkeypox and help spread awareness, as has Steele:
MonkeyPox: A Timeline. This is me from day 1 through yesterday (me in the green tank). Not meant to gross you out but rather provide a perspective on what it looks like over time. I hope this helps show people what it looks like and people know what to expect if they contract it. pic.twitter.com/SKFppNvqUg
— SilverSteele – Southern Decadence 9/1 – 9/5 (@TheSilverSteele) August 5, 2022
Have any of you had monkeypox? How was your recovery? If you haven’t had it, How Has the Monkeypox Outbreak Affected Your Sex Life?
See more of Boomer at NakedSword, and read more about the Banks porn family in the revealing Discretion Advised interview with Brock Banks!
For what I read he was infected or showed symptoms in June, at the time the information was very scarce, if the incubation period is 1 to 3 weeks that means he was one of the first people infected, so no he didn’t know what was going to happen judging him is easy but just shows that we are just as bad or worse than straight people stigmatizing our own people
I have zero sympathy for anyone with monkeypox.
Well as my Grandma used to say: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.” Judggy much all you BITCHERS!
Please… no more article on Boomer. He is so trashy (and not in a good way).
AGREED!
Truth
I guess I need to put my little bitty violin away because I’m tired of playing it for this clown. Him and so many others seem to forget to do the number one thing in this fight against Monkey pox. Refrain from these casual damn hook ups and stop this filming fan site scenes and porn scenes. Give it a break and let things calm down before running around like horny lab rats and screwing each other left and right. Vaccination helps but having some self control also does wonders.
These porn performers need to chill out for a while and those in our community need to control themselves. Having an extremely active sex life isn’t as important as your health.
You are right.
Monkey pox is 100% preventable. If you’re an adult man with so little self control that you can not just refrain from sex for a few months while this blows over or until you can schedule an appointment and get the vaccine (then wait another few weeks for it to take effect), then you really need to grow up. Seriously!
This virus is spread because of people with no self control like Banks. Any they try to play the victim? Even the wording, “his struggle with monkey pox…”, ffs! Nobody with half a brain should struggle with monkey pox; how about develop some self respect and don’t get it.
When god was passing out dicks, Banks was at the front of the line. When god was passing out brains… (and don’t even get me started on that sleaze, Steele! Ugh, that creep’s pubes look like top ramen and he thinks he’s so hot.)
Mkay. I would like to take this moment to completely distance myself from whatever this insane rant TJ is on.
While I advocate for responsible behavior, this hate-filled tirade is completely disconnected from reality and needs to be calked out for being WAY too far.
Seeking pleasure is good and healthy. Understanding risks and responding positively when bad things happen is a healthy strategy.
Misplaced fear in the name of “prevention and responsibility” is not mature, intelligent or reasonable.
Have fun and enjoy life … and be smart out there.
How can you do porn, have HIV, a history with meth … and not have health insurance? That’s THE FIRST thing you do.
He’s over 40 and an industry veteran. This isn’t some twink from a rural town.
Well this sadly proves he isn’t making much money off his onlyfans.
He’s less than smart
Mehhh hard to feel bad for him when he knew the consequences
Why can’t we just hold off on casual sex until you get vaccinated? The more monkey pox spreads, the more gay men will be stigmatized in a political environment which is already hostile towards us. It just seems really selfish and short-sighted to be engaging in this sort of behaviour right now.
Because these guys don’t think, boomers been partying attending Folsom filming those vile RFC gangbang scenes, he was obviously going to get monkeypox sooner or later.
Vaccines don’t stop the spread of an infection, only the symptoms in those vaccinated. Also, this is one of those mRNA vaccines and as more data comes out, they aren’t the God Send people hoped they were.
If you want to limit your own symptoms in the event of infection, by all means get it, and perhaps for a porn performer that’s the right business move, but there is this critical misunderstanding in how these products work.
I could just as easily recommend getting IV vitamin C each month.
JYNNEOS vaccines are said to be at least 85% effective at PREVENTING monkey pox.
I can’t give an entire lesson in biology on here but essentially you just said “A bulletproof vest is 85% effective at PREVENTING bullets.”
Monkeypox is a virus that exists. It can’t be prevented.
Once it infects you, having antibodies can minimize symptoms.
85% without context (85% of what exactly?) is a meaningless statistic.
I would have to read the study to understand what it said.
My educated guess is that 85% of vaccine recipients showed fewer symptoms as compared to a placebo group … and that was probably on lab rats, not humans, since injecting monkeypox into humans for experimentation is frowned upon.
In any case, vaccines produce antibodies in the patient which reduce can symptoms if infected. They don’t prevent infection or transmission. You are as likely to contract monkeypox or any other virus from a vaccinated person as an unvaccinated person. As others have said, avoiding risky behavior is the surest prevention, but that advice falls a bit flat when your job is dependent upon risky behavior, as is the case with Mr. Banks.
Dances with the devil yet cries afterward because of the consequences. OH brother give me a break Boomer knew the consequences of his actions and still acted shocked when he got monkeypox. I don’t feel; pity for him since he is solely responsible for his actions.
you must be fun at parties
I’m thinking there’s a way to encourage your gay bothers to protect themselves and others WITHOUT being a complete and total sanctimonious asshole.
Maybe think about things from time to time, eh?
So we’re supposed to what hold thier hands to get them to be safe? GTFO he is a 40 year grown old man! He should’ve known better especially since he’s an uninsured sex worker.
Once again, for the cheap seats in the back:
I’m thinking there’s a way to encourage your gay bothers to protect themselves and others WITHOUT being a complete and total sanctimonious asshole.
How Bill, these guys keep getting warnings and told what to do and they still don’t listen. We knew monkeypox was out and about and guys like boomer thought they were invincible .