A gay doctor has won a huge fan following with his no-nonsense, straightforward videos about anal sex and sexually transmitted infections. His following exploded over the summer, especially when he started posting videos of gay men teaching him about monkey disease.
Dr. Carlton Thomas’ videos come at a time when people are desperate for accurate and up-to-date information. More and more people are moving around. Tiktok Bite-size pieces of news.
Dr. Thomas was born and raised in “very conservative South Carolina.” He studied at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He practices as a gastroenterologist (which deals with the health of your gut) but has become knowledgeable about all areas of queer health.
Thomas says there is a real thirst for such information from many queers in his practice. He also said he saw a “lack of authentic, healthy sexuality on social media.”
He is now based in San Diego, California. Married, with two 17-year-old children.
Accessing TikTok during the pandemic
Thomas started posting videos in 2020 because of “epidemic stress relief and boredom. My kids were big Tik Tok fans so I jumped in one night and realized how good it was.
“My audience started after I posted videos of making out and having fun with anal sex.
“Then I got about 50,000 followers. The amazing statistic is that 75% of them are women, which I didn’t expect in the past, but I realized, ‘Hey, everyone has a butt and might be interested in anal sex.’
“I continued to grow by posting more health videos and then led to a stronger health platform on Instagram. I talk about PREP, PEP, HIV, U=U, Doxy PEP, but also STD testing, vaccinations and harm reduction.
Earlier this year, Thomas was “incredibly scared” when he learned that monkeypox was mainly affecting gay men.
“Since I have one of the few queer health social media platforms, I felt I had to sound the alarm. When the Darklands Belgium announcement came out on May 20 that there were three new cases and I knew IML was coming soon in Chicago and the same people were traveling there, My first warning video.
“It felt very similar to HIV, but this time without some of the deaths it caused early HIV in the 80s.
“A gay doctor friend in Chicago posted that he experienced 10 days after IML. [International Mr Leather]I knew this was going to be a big problem. If he can get it, so can I!”
@Dr. Carlton #monkey disease #gaytiktok #tiktokgay # Below ♬ Original voice – Dr. Carlton
Related: Half of homosexuals have reduced their sexual activity due to gonorrhea
Responding to the arrival of monkey disease
“I started living with the people taking over Instagram and giving them all the medical and vaccine information I could to stop this,” Thomas said.
“I feel like those live videos gave people the awareness to take this seriously. Every day my inbox was flooded with guys who were newly engaged and didn’t know what to do. I help refer people to resources for treatment and vaccination.
“As a GI specialist, this rectal pain episode was particularly interesting. I’ve had people tell me that their neighbors call 911 every time they go to the bathroom because they think someone is being murdered.
There were many sleepless nights helping men who had nowhere else to go. Before, doctors and nurses had no idea how to diagnose or treat it because it was so new. Many people have already been diagnosed with herpes or syphilis.
@Dr. Carlton ♬ Big Energy (Remix) – Lato & Mariah Carey
Thomas pays tribute to others, e.g Grant Rothwho “built Google Docs In Vaccination and Testing Sites,” community advocate Jeffrey Gallaise and veteran activist Dan Savage sounded the alarm.
“Our community has been through this before, and when we felt no one was helping us, we took collective action at the grassroots level to stop it. Because the majority of new infections are people of color, we still have work to do because vaccination rates are too low for them. Health inequity is something we fight for,” Thomas says.
“The real turning point for us in the US was when Dr. Demetrius Daskalakis became deputy director of monkey disease strategy. Having a gay person doing the same thing we do made people listen.
The most important advice for gay men about their sexual health
Quality Dr. Thomas asked for the most important advice for gay men.
“Be responsible for your sexual health. It’s your level of protection. yours decision and yours “Responsibility,” he says.
“Know your HIV status. If you’re negative and at risk for HIV infection, take PrEP to prevent it. If you’re positive, stay that way so you can be cured into an undiagnosed condition and have a normal lifespan. Also, be careful not to spread the virus sexually when U=U is unknown.
He also tells people to know about PEP and get all the necessary vaccinations. If you’re a receptive partner during sex, urine tests alone aren’t enough, he said.
“If you’re having oral sex, you need an anus if you’re down and down your throat. And check your partner before you play! If something doesn’t look or smell right, don’t play!”
@Dr. Carlton Why doesn’t it take longer for the water to clear?!!!! # Below #tiktokgay #gaytiktok #homosexual ♬ Original voice – Dr. Carlton