File This Under "About Fucking Time!"
Mar. 4th, 2010 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jadedmusingsVia Shakesville, 16 Democratic and Independent Senators have written a letter to the FDA commissioner requesting that finally drop the ban on gay men (or men who have had sex with other men at any point in their lives) from donating blood. This ban has been in place since 1983 back when HIV/AIDS was known as "the gay cancer" or "GRID" and thought to be a disease only found in homosexuals. It's difficult to understand how it is that twenty-seven years later with all we know about the virus and how it spreads that there is still a ban targetting homosexual men.
This hits home for me because I have had two male sexual partners who had been with other men prior to me. I believe this used to mean I was also banned for life from donating blood too, but I checked the Red Cross's website and it seems that now the restriction is if I've had sex within the past 12 months with a man who has had sex with other men. So perhaps I can donate again (assuming I don't get any new piercings or tattoos which would mean I'd have to wait another 12 months), but notice that if you are a male who has had sex with another male, even once, since 1977, you are banned from donating blood, period. (Also notice how "sex" is not defined as either oral, anal, or other.) My past partners? They can't ever donate until this ban is lifted. They take precautions, and neither have ever tested positive for HIV/AIDS, nor do either engage in any other high risk behaviors listed. They're perfectly willing to donate but unwilling to lie about who they are and who they love.
It's time for a change and I'm glad something is finally being done to address this.
This hits home for me because I have had two male sexual partners who had been with other men prior to me. I believe this used to mean I was also banned for life from donating blood too, but I checked the Red Cross's website and it seems that now the restriction is if I've had sex within the past 12 months with a man who has had sex with other men. So perhaps I can donate again (assuming I don't get any new piercings or tattoos which would mean I'd have to wait another 12 months), but notice that if you are a male who has had sex with another male, even once, since 1977, you are banned from donating blood, period. (Also notice how "sex" is not defined as either oral, anal, or other.) My past partners? They can't ever donate until this ban is lifted. They take precautions, and neither have ever tested positive for HIV/AIDS, nor do either engage in any other high risk behaviors listed. They're perfectly willing to donate but unwilling to lie about who they are and who they love.
It's time for a change and I'm glad something is finally being done to address this.
