by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Ok, real talk. I am well aware that in the early days of AIDS, it was often referred to as “The Gay Plague.” I have thought a lot about my use of the phrase, “The Gray Plague” in that historical context and I feel comfortable using it going forward.
The reason is, while “The Gay Plague” was proscription, “The Gray Plague” is descriptive. AIDS is actually pretty hard to get and a lot of people who weren’t gay got it in the early years because of tainted blood transfusions. And calling AIDS “The Gay Plague” was often used to harm the gay community and make people even more homophobic than they already were in the 80s.
Meanwhile, it’s not like people are going to avoid old people because of The Gray Plague. Going forward, the vast majority of people who die from COVID19, are going to be, well, old. So, yes, I guess is sounds rather tabloid to call it The Gray Plague, it is also a reasonably accurate description of what’s going on. It really is a potential massive culling of older people along the lines of the Black Plague.
The other term is “Wuflop.” Now, there’s a medical term for this that I can’t find. But I’m growing leery of using WuFlop because, well, MAGA are a bunch of fucking racist who will likely hop on the term to do God-only-knows what to Asian people of all stripes. So, I will continue to use the term in a sort of gallows’ humor fashion until I find out what the actual scientific term for the event is.
Whatever its scientific term, the WuFlop is eerie as hell and Americans simply aren’t prepared to see it happen here.
I have completely stopped using WuFlu outside of some things I step early on in the pandemic on this Website.I started using it at first because I thought it was an amusing reference to Wu-tang Clan. MAGA shitheads are trying to brand it the Wuhan Flu so they can blame the Chinese government and continue to suck Trump’s political cock.
I look forward to spitting in the eye of the Fourth Reich ICE agent who arrests me for these posts before he puts a bullet in the back of my head. Good times!
