Magic Man
Reaper of Conversation
Now, sadly and tragically in my opinion, the gay rights community is making the same mistake all over again. Gay rights groups and some U.S. senators (including Senator Kerry) have put pressure on the FDA to change the policy. Some gay rights activists are inappropriately politicizing a medical issue.
Here's the problem. Do they ban heterosexuals who have had a lot of sex over the past 2 months from donating? Do they ban black women from donating?
I understand the point that you want the blood you give people to be as safe as possible, but blood is never going to be 100% safe, unless we get rid of deadly STDs. The problem is in the inconsistency. As a straight, white male I could go give blood even after having unprotected sex with 16 different women in the last 2 weeks, and they're OK with that. But if I've had sex with another man even once 25 years ago, and I've been tested 10 different times since then, twice since the last time I had any sex at all, that's no good. That's the big problem with it. Instead of saying "If you're a gay man, we and you need to be extra careful considering your high risk of infection", they just say "If you're a gay man, we don't want you". And that's despite the fact that they're not the only high-risk group out there.