Matty Easton (@easton

Matty Easton

4,500 posts

Matty Easton

@easton_matty

@BYU Poli Sci Valedictorian, previously @PeteButtigieg organizer. Currently poli sci PhD at @UCBerkeley. Go Bears! 🐻

Berkeley, CA

Joined January 2012

Pinned
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Apr 13, 2021
Excited to share that today I officially accepted the offer to pursue my PhD in Political Science at UC Berkeley! I am thrilled by the chance to learn from and work with some of the leading scholars in political science (and in the Bay Area, no less!)
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Jul 29, 2022
Well, it’s official—I have monkeypox. This disease has put me through the wringer (and if I’m being blunt, may be the worst pain I’ve ever experienced). It is no joke.
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Jul 29, 2022
Replying to @easton_matty
But I realized that if I felt so alone and shameful while dealing with MPX, probably other people are, too. So this is a reminder for anyone reading this with a positive diagnosis that you’re not the only one. You’re not a bad person for getting it, & we’ll get through it 💪🏻💕
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Jul 29, 2022
Replying to @easton_matty
I’m the meantime, I’m resting up and trying to aid my lesions in healing. It’s also caused a lot of awful side effects, including nausea, migraines, and herpes-like symptoms. Please do whatever you can to 1) avoid this, and 2) help those of us dealing with it. We need it. ❤️
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Oct 18, 2022
iykyk
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Jul 29, 2022
Replying to @easton_matty
One of my best friends had to DRIVE ACROSS THE BORDER TO CANADA in order to get the vaccine. We are trying. So hard. To protect ourselves and our communities, but the resources just aren’t here.
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Jul 29, 2022
Replying to @easton_matty
Also, it makes me fucking scared for what’s to come—I can’t emphasize enough how much this sucks. Monkeypox is NOT an STD. You can get it while having sex, but you can also get it while having any sort of skin-to-skin contact with someone contagious.
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Jul 29, 2022
Replying to @easton_matty
Gay men may be the main group of people who are getting it right now, but it won’t end with us. Prior to my diagnosis, I waited in four hour lines TWICE to get the vaccine, just to be turned away both times because they didn’t have enough.
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Jul 29, 2022
Replying to @easton_matty
The worst part of this (well okay, second to the pain) is the shame associated with it. I felt like I had to keep it quiet or else people would think I was a “sexual deviant” or just got it because I’m gay.
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Jul 29, 2022
Replying to @easton_matty
Even being in Berkeley, I’ve still been met with a lot of roadblocks, red tape, and confusion regarding my health status and treatment. I can’t even imagine what it would be like getting MPX in a city or state that doesn’t have the same progressive health infrastructure.
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Aug 25, 2021
For those who are interested, here is the copy of my BYU graduation speech. Personally, I believe calling my remarks “divisive”, “selfish”, and “unrelatable to the student body” is a mischaracterization. I invite you all to take a look and decide for yourselves.
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Dec 9, 2021
I’m sorry but Mormon work-arounds to not drink coffee will never not be funny to me 😂💀
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Aug 23, 2021
it’s not every day that you get subtweeted by an apostle of the church 🙃
Matty Easton
@easton_matty
Aug 23, 2021
Replying to @easton_matty
I did not “commandeer” the graduation. I earned my spot on that podium and followed every protocol, including having my speech pre-approved by the institution. I drew on my personal experiences because they shaped my time at BYU—authenticity is not the same as “agenda pushing”.