Vivien Killilea/Getty Jonathan Van Ness shares his thoughts on the US government’s “failure” in the monkeypox outbreak. In a pointed TIME essay published Monday, the 35-year-old Queer Eye star recalled the moment the nation reported its first official case in May, calling out the government’s response. “Watching the government’s poor response to monkeypox has been surreal, and in many ways, I think it’s been fueled by homophobia and transphobia,” he said, adding, “When an outbreak primarily affects men who have sex with men, a part of Elected legislators will have no incentive to act. He thinks it won’t touch their constituents, which is obviously confusing because people’s lives are at stake and there are queer people in all 50 states.” The reality of the virus hit Van Ness when a friend had to cancel a trip to New Orleans, where Van Ness is filming Queer Eye, after being exposed to monkey pox. “I started calling all the political contacts I have, sounding the alarm about how quickly the cases are increasing and begging officials to take the virus more seriously.” RELATED: Monkey Pox ‘Not a Sexually Transmitted Infection,’ But CDC Warns of Genital Rashes Likening the government’s response to monkeypox to the authorities’ deadly slow response to the AIDS epidemic, Van Ness said he was “disappointed” in the politicians who were in power then and now “like President [Joe] Biden and President [Nancy] Pelosi.” “Once again, we see very little action being taken until the situation spirals out of control. If nothing changes, we will continue to face failures like this response, which has been plagued with too few tests, lack of access to treatments, inadequate vaccine supply and ambiguous guidance,” he said. RELATED: Woman With ‘Extremely Painful’ Monkey Pox Says She Was Not Offered Vaccine Or Antiviral Treatments Van Ness then called out officials for not taking “more proactive measures” to release an easily accessible vaccine after cases “started to increase in June.” The story continues “Why haven’t we seen this administration prioritize the rapid supply of monkeypox vaccines?” he asked, showing how, like at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, many seem to view –– and dismiss –– the virus as something that only affects the LGBTQ+ community. RELATED VIDEO: Illinois daycare worker tests positive for monkeypox, children likely exposed The star noted that declaring monkeypox a public health emergency “was a step in the right direction — but it was a day late and a dollar short” before sharing a joke he often tells during stand-ups. up his show. “It’s been so funny to see straight people being shocked by the government response during COVID-19, because we’re like, ‘Honey, it’s Tuesday,’” said Van Ness, who found out he was HIV positive 10 years ago . “Did you think the government would come to your aid? We are used to this kind of inactivity. Monkey pox is like: same day, different virus.” Never miss a story — subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Added the star: “I think tragedy, hope, despair and resilience can live side by side. But we have to act.” Stating that “everyone should care about monkeypox” even if they aren’t directly affected by it, “because we have to care about each other,” Van Ness left fans with a reminder that other diseases, like HIV, they still exist, along with the stereotypes surrounding them and the limits to proper health care. “This is not just a story of monkey pox. This is a story of how we continually fail people on the margins. We have to be bold about what we are willing to witness — and no one should be willing to watch this spread of the epidemic in the last two months,” he wrote.”
