Talk about problematic procession . The AP newspaper headline crowing “ US movement to End Ban on roue contribution by Gay Men ” do with a whopper of an asterisk : gay and bisexual man who wish to donate origin may do so only if they ’ve refrained from having gender with another man for a full year prior .
This is a footstep up from the old Food and Drug Administration blanket ban on donate at all , and it would “ put the U.S. in line with other country include Australia , Japan and the U.K. , ” but it ’s still controversial : “ Activists , however , oppugn whether requiring a year of celibacy from gay men to donate blood add up to a meaning insurance policy shift . ”
One such activist is Slate editorialist Mark Joseph Stern , whowrote :
This is , no doubt , a step forward . But it ’s a very modest one . The one - year deferral policy is still root in an outdated , affront visual modality of jocund men as diseased , promiscuous letch . A gay human in a decades - long monogamous relationship with his husband will be forbidden from donating rake . So , too , will any homophile or bisexual human race who systematically practise secure sex activity . Meanwhile , straight people who routinely have sex with multiple diametrical - sex collaborator — or not they use condoms — confront no deferral at all .
It ’s perfectly scattered to forbid a monogamous jolly man from donate while permitting light straight people to give as much blood as they want . But as we ’ve teach over the last 31 years , there ’s very little understanding behind the FDA ’s gay - related policy . The American Red Cross , America ’s bloodline Centers , the American Association of ancestry bank , and the American Medical Association have all move on and now patronize scrap the proscription altogether .
Perhaps in another 31 years , we ’ll see the FDA move to a sensible , nondiscriminatory rule . For now , we ’re stuck with this sticky , unscientific half - measure .
supporting but frustrating baby step , these .
Photo viaWikimedia Commons .
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