I just realized I could install Guitar Hero III on my macbook. Guess what I’m doing for the next week…

(Source: kehlah)

According to the FDA and American Red Cross, male donors that have ever had sexual contact with another male since 1977 cannot donate blood. This was an FDA policy enacted in 1985 to supposedly prevent the spread of HIV.

My question is why is this still in place? With current scientific knowledge, this incorrect stereotype only enables a blatant civil rights violation.

• While HIV was more prominent among gay men in the 1980’s, it is now the leading cause of death for all men age 25 to 44 and the fourth leading cause for all women of the same age.
• Testing procedures for HIV have improved drastically since the policy was enacted. The chance of transfusion-transmission of HIV now, due to the improvement of testing procedures, is 1 in 2,000,000.
• All blood donations are required by the FDA to be tested for several antigens and antibodies, including the HIV Type 1 and Type 2 antibodies.

So why is being a man that has had sexual relations with another man a reason why you cannot donate blood? Anyone can have HIV, yet gay men are stereotyped to be HIV-positive according to a 1985 mindset. All blood is tested, so what is the difference? The difference is discrimination of sexual orientation and preference enacted and enforced by an agency of a federal executive department.

(Source: kehlah)