Gay Selfishness
It’s a funny thing about this nefarious Gay Agenda the social conservatives are so determined to stop: It sure looks like a big chunk of it centers around a yearning to be productive, contributing members of society. They want to serve openly in the armed forces, they want to work, they want to teach, they want to be ministers and priests, they want to enter into stable, formally committed relationships, and they want to donate blood:
Did you know that in America gay men still can’t donate blood? The ban on gay blood donors is based in the worst kind of anti-gay prejudice and AIDS hysteria from early in the epidemic. America needs to end the ban and allow gay men to donate blood. Science supports lifting the ban, and so does basic fairness.
You can help America leave the ban behind. Adam Bink of OpenLeft explains how:
Today, OpenLeft is participating in a blogswarm with AMERICABlog, AKAWilliam.com, Bilerico Project, Blabbeando, Change.org, DailyKos, David Badash, Firedoglake-The Seminal, Good As You, Joe Mirabella, Joe. My. God., LGBTPOV, Mike Signorile, and Rod 2.0. We are asking you to submit a public comment in support of revising the discriminatory and medically unwarranted FDA lifetime ban on blood donations from any man who has had sex with another man (MSM) since 1977.
Today, the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability is kicking off a two-day meeting to reconsider the FDA ban on blood donations from men who have had sex with men (MSM). The current policy has been in place since 1985 when no HIV testing was available and little was known about HIV/AIDS. Since then, while many policies towards blood donations have changed, and HIV testing has significantly advanced to the point where a permanent ban no longer makes sense, the ban still remains in place. The ban is also discriminatory in that it unfairly targets gay and bisexual men because it does not distinguish between high-risk and low-risk MSM, banning potential MSM donors who are HIV-negative and consistently practice safe sex or are in long-term monogamous relationships, while others with a significantly higher risk of HIV infection are subject to less restrictive deferrals or none at all. The ban also contributes to a dangerously and chronically low blood supply in a country in which approximately just 5% of all eligible donors give.
Look, if gay men and women want to give of themselves to serve their fellow Americans, be it in the blood bank, on the battlefield, in a school or in a church, why on Earth would we not let them? Is the right to serve others really such an unreasonable thing to ask for? Are we as a nation so hysterically, blindly homophobic that we think their sacrifice and service are too tainted to accept?
Please sign Change.org’s online petition, then visit Open Left’s action post and send an e-mail comment to HHS’s point person on blood donation policy at jerry.holmberg@hhs.gov. Our government may not be ready to let gays shed their blood in combat yet, but surely it can at least let them donate some?
2 comments June 10th, 2010 at 07:31pm Posted by Eli
Entry Filed under: Teh Gay
