Since at least the COVID-related government shutdowns of 2020, Americans have been keenly aware of the Centers for Disease Control and its role in influencing public health policy, particularly regarding vaccines. However, they may not know that the man currently tasked with overseeing the CDC's immunization services and its coronavirus division, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, is an LGBTQ+ "activist" with a long history of pushing vaccines and drugs to facilitate promiscuous sexual behavior, especially among gay men.

Blaze News took a look into the background of Daskalakis — the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, a subdivision of the CDC — to better understand how a sex-obsessed physician rose to such a position of prominence within a powerful federal agency and to gauge how his work there may be affected by his personal lifestyle choices.

The "media requests" page on the NCIRD website can no longer "be found," so Blaze News reached out to the agency through another email address listed on the site, asking a bevy of specific questions about Daskalakis' beliefs about gender and his approaches to medicine. We never received a response.

'Radical gay doctor': Daskalakis takes on meningitis in NYC

Daskalakis, described in his CDC bio as an "activist physician," reportedly grew up in Arlington, Virginia, in a Greek Orthodox family and attended medical school at New York University. After residency in Boston, he moved back to NYC, where he became known as a "progressive, radical gay doctor" eager to take on infectious diseases known to spread among gay men.

Not only might underage boys have illicitly snuck into these venues otherwise restricted to adults, but even the adults at the clubs and bathhouses may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

One such disease that ravaged the LGBTQ+ populations in NYC in 2012 and 2013 was meningitis. Ostensibly in an effort to limit the spread of the disease, Daskalakis began going to gay nightclubs and bathhouses and offering meningitis vaccinations to those in attendance. He even occasionally performed those vaccinations while wearing a drag costume — "to take the edge off the injection," NBC News said.

In a feature story on Daskalakis several years ago, the Columbia College Alumni Association, which counted Daskalakis among its membership, called this approach "innovative" and claimed it was "making healthcare accessible and easy for at-risk populations." "Daskalakis is known for ... putting convention aside and going into the community rather than waiting for people to come to him," the association said.

One possible concern with this "innovative" approach, however, is whether the individuals who received a vaccination from Daskalakis under these conditions were in a position to consent to it. Not only might underage boys have illicitly snuck into these venues otherwise restricted to adults, but even the adults at the clubs and bathhouses may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

In our email to the NCIRD, Blaze News asked what steps Daskalakis took to ensure that his vaccination recipients were of age and sound mind to consent to the injection. Neither the NCIRD nor Dr. Daskalakis responded.

When HIV 'prevention' boosts Big Pharma's bottom line

Another infectious disease known to affect gay men in particular is HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS. Though the scourge of AIDS frequently made headlines in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a time when celebrities proudly wore red ribbons to award shows in support of AIDS research, its popularity as a cause waned by the 2000s.

Rather than attempting to curtail the unsafe behaviors, Daskalakis was, wittingly or unwittingly, facilitating promiscuity within the gay community, all under the guise of sexual 'health.'

Dr. Daskalakis made HIV the focus of his early medical career, which likely began in the late 1990s, when HIV was beginning to fall off the national radar. Daskalakis' CDC bio claims that at the time, he stressed the importance of HIV testing in LGBTQ+ communities as well as "prevention."

Indeed, Daskalakis soon adopted a prevention-minded HIV treatment program known as PrEP, short for pre-exposure prophylaxis. A major component of PrEP, however, usually involves a daily dose of an expensive drug called Truvada.

While state and federal programs may have made Truvada more affordable, PrEP participants must take a dose every single day, which makes them dependent — which is not to say addicted — on a drug made necessary because of unsafe sexual practices. Rather than attempt to curtail the unsafe behaviors, Daskalakis wittingly or unwittingly attempted to inoculate against some of the consequences of those behaviors, thus facilitating promiscuity within the gay community, and all under the guise of sexual "health."

In fairness, it appears that PrEP has helped reduce the rates of HIV infection in places like NYC, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. According to a study cited by NBC News, between 2012 and 2017, new HIV diagnoses in NYC dropped from about 400 for every 1,000,000 people to about 250.

However, PrEP depends largely on individuals consuming Truvada or other antiretroviral drugs, and pharmaceutical companies have since apparently tried to expand the consumer base for these medicines beyond just the LGBTQ community to encourage more drug purchases. NBC News even admitted that the positive results from PrEP prompted the government to set up the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which ultimately "recommended that doctors assess all Americans’ HIV risk ... vastly increasing the number of people recommended to take [Truvada]" (emphasis added).

'Sexual health clinics': Daskalakis revamps NYC's health agency

Because of his work with gay men, Daskalakis was eventually hired to be the assistant commissioner of the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control at the New York City Health Department around the time that Bill de Blasio was sworn in as mayor in January 2014. Over the next several years, Daskalakis advanced in the agency and seized the opportunity to significantly change its approach to sex and health.

For one thing, Daskalakis rebranded STD clinics to be "sexual health clinics," even though the healthiest form of sexuality is expressed exclusively within a monogamous marriage.

Daskalakis was also involved in devising new sex-related media campaigns in NYC. "Gone were the scare-tactic campaigns of the Bloomberg administration ... . They were replaced by joyful, brightly colored ads that encouraged people to come in for STD testing," NBC News claimed.

Such a description dodges the crudely suggestive nature of these ads, some of which are featured on NYC subways. NBC News shared an image of an ad from 2018 that promoted a casual hookup and included emojis that reference male genitalia and ejaculation. Current NYC ads feature similarly vulgar images through strategic use of fruit.

In 2022, a year or so after Daskalakis left, the city's health department changed its name to NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Though the name suggests the Division of Mental Hygiene encourages clean, wholesome thoughts, it actually "oversees the agency’s work on mental health, alcohol and drug use prevention, care and treatment and children youth and families," according to its website.

'Leadership on health equity': Daskalakis joins the CDC

During his years at the NYC health department, Daskalakis held several titles, including "incident commander" of the "COVID-19 public health emergency" in 2020, a position that increased his public profile considerably. In fact, he actually joined the CDC in December 2020, the tail end of the Trump administration, to be the director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, though all the while he continued to promote the COVID vaccines.

Then in August 2022, Joe Biden named Daskalakis and Robert Fenton of FEMA to spearhead the effort to combat the so-called monkeypox virus, which spread mainly among gay men. Biden first developed confidence in Fenton and Daskalakis because of their tireless efforts to promote the COVID vaccines for nearly everyone, including babies as young as 6 months old.

"Both played critical roles in making COVID vaccines more accessible for underserved communities and closing the equity gap in adult vaccination rates, through the implementation and execution of FEMA mass vaccination sites in some of the country’s most underserved communities, and working with trusted members of local communities to build vaccine confidence," said a statement from the White House.

Dr. Anthony Fauci — the controversial former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, a subset of the National Institutes of Health — praised the appointment of Daskalakis and Fenton.

"From Bob’s work at FEMA leading COVID-19 mass vaccination efforts and getting vaccines to underserved communities to Demetre’s extensive experience and leadership on health equity and STD and HIV prevention, this team will allow the Biden Administration to further accelerate and strengthen its monkeypox response," Fauci said at the time.

Several months later, Daskalakis and his overtly sexual medical persona went viral on social media after users on the right began sharing a video of him from the HIV Prevention Summit in Las Vegas in 2023. In the video, Daskalakis, wearing a suit as well as some bondage-related accoutrement, struts onto a platform flanked by men in banana-boat-like attire as rainbow-colored lights flash about the stage and Madonna's "Erotica" thunders through the speakers.

"Erotic. Erotic. Put your hands all over my body," the lyrics repeat.

"Our country is run by clowns and pervs," commented popular right-wing X account I Meme Therefore I Am in reference to the video.

If users hoped sharing the video would shame the Biden administration into pulling Daskalakis' appointment, they were wrong. In fact, after Daskalakis' stint with the monkeypox response team, he was promoted to director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, a position that he still holds today.

Among the respiratory disease threats now under Daskalakis' care is COVID, as the NCIRD has an entire subdivision devoted to the coronavirus and "other respiratory viruses."

As NCIRD director, Daskalakis is also tasked with "advancing health equity." Blaze News asked NCIRD to clarify what it means by "health equity" and whether such an approach to treatment privileges the health concerns of certain groups over others. The NCIRD did not respond.

'Satan is waiting': Daskalakis' personal life

The 2023 video of Daskalakis at the HIV prevention convention in Las Vegas does not in any way exaggerate Daskalakis' focus on his gay sexual identity. A quick glance at his personal Instagram account reveals a man obsessed with sex and disturbing — possibly even satanic — imagery.

Most of the images on the account are selfies of himself with no shirt on, exposing his many tattoos, at least one of which includes a pentagram image. In others, he's standing with his legal partner, Michael Macneal.

The reels on the Instagram account are even more unsettling. Several feature drag queens expounding on Daskalakis' many contributions to the trans community. Another post from several years ago features a Macy's ad during June, sometimes referred to as Pride Month. In the ad, Daskalakis and Macneal cuddle and embrace in front of a rainbow-colored star. In one shot, Macneal even licks Daskalakis' face.

"JUST A LITTLE PRIDE WITH MY BOO," reads the attending message from Daskalakis.

Daskalakis has apparently embraced the homosexual lifestyle so completely that he has even disparaged heterosexuality. In a July 2022 post on the platform then known as Twitter, Daskalakis joked: "A white straight cis man comparing sex to bowling tells me so much about straight sex."

Such a joke from a private citizen would hardly be worth mentioning, but Daskalakis has strong influence over national federal policy regarding immunizations. He is also a physician who ought to treat everyone — from promiscuous homosexual men at NYC bathhouses to conservative Christian heterosexual women living in faithful marriages — the same in terms of medicine and bedside manners.

Possible anti-heterosexual biases aside, Daskalakis has evinced a personal outlook that would likely stand in stark contrast to the outlook of average Americans, especially Christians. In 2014, Daskalakis and Macneal partnered with Sarah LaBier to open a spin and yoga studio called Monster Cycle, which may sound rather innocuous but offered a decidedly dark atmosphere and approach to exercise.

One Facebook post from the studio features satanic images, including a pentagram and the number 666. Another offered "free tarot readings." Yet another post promotes a sale of six classes for $66.66. "Satan is waiting," the photo promo reads.

Images from a 2014 New York Post story about the studio likewise show LaBier practicing yoga in front of a pentagram and Macneal atop a spin bike wearing a costume that includes devilish horns.

Despite these images and promotions, LaBier insisted that she and her fellow co-owners were not satanists. "We don’t worship the devil, we’re not Satan followers," she told the Post. "We’re just sort of taking that energy and making it more positive."

When asked about his possible interest in satanism in September 2022, Daskalakis replied, "I wish I were that interesting."

Though the Facebook account for Monster Cycle remains active, the studio may be closed. The most recent Facebook post on the account is from March 2020, and calls to the phone number advertised on it either did not go through at all or were met with a busy signal. A website for the studio is likewise defunct.

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