Watch: When Nasty Pig Went to the White House
Over Martin Luther King weekend, the queer clothing brand Nasty Pig was recognized by White House Public Health Officials for 30 years of queer sexual positivity and public health advocacy, including setting up an Mpox vaccination clinic at Mid-Atlantic Leather that same weekend.
"We were very involved with the White House and the CDC on the Monkeypox response, so to come full circle is awesome. To be that powerless 23-year-old kid standing in the White House holding my husband's hand under a portrait of George Washington was unbelievable," said Nasty Pig co-founder David Lauterstein.
"The recognition for me is really an acknowledgement of the power that we have when we stand in our own skin and when we embody who we are as a people. The idea that the White House and CDC are approaching people like me to talk to our own community is mind blowing. I still don't understand the gravity of that. In 1981, if we were in a position where health officials could talk to the gay community and talk about the AIDS epidemic, maybe there would have been a different ending," Laterstein said.