Posted on 06/15/2016 7:24:20 PM PDT by Faith Presses On
ORLANDO — Thousands of people have poured into blood banks or waited outside, melting in the mid 90-degree heat, since Sunday to meet an urgent call for blood donations after so much of it was spilled here on a nightclub floor. Many were sent home, having completely overwhelmed the staff and resources available to tap their veins. But for the community perhaps most affected by the horrific massacre, it was outdated regulations that kept them away.
"I want to be able to help my brothers and sisters that are out there, that are suffering right now," Garrett Jurss, a gay man, told NBC OUT. "But I can't, and I feel helpless."
Under the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) current guidelines, gay and bisexual men are required to remain celibate for a year before they can donate blood...
(snip)
The FDA justifies its policy by pointing to higher rates of HIV infection experienced nationally among gay and bisexual men...
(snip)
Gay and bisexual men, meanwhile, continue to press for their right to donate.
"It's insulting to a lot the LGBT population that this is still an issue," said Russell Walker, community development director of the AIDS organization Hope & Help. He has been directing LGBT friends who want to donate to OneBlood, despite the FDA regulations.
"Remember, you're celibate!" he called after one man on his way out the doors of the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida Monday. The two men laughed. But Walker soon grew serious again.
"There are so many outdated things we're fighting against," he said. "We're getting there. This is just another fight with a massive light shone on it."
Correction:
And who is going to believe it when one of them says they have adhered to a not-provable requirement...unless they have been imprisoned in solitary confinement for a year.
Crickets???
Trying hard to get HIV into the general population.The claim has always been “we are all at risk,” and they are trying hard to make it so.
This isn't an anti-gay statement. It's just basic health care common sense.
Nailed it. "gay" is a misnomer; they are mostly unhappy people who just happen to put penises in anuses.
You’ve never seen a dog, either sex, fixed or unfixed, hump another dog or someone’s leg?
I didn’t take any pictures of one of our rabbits mounting his brothers and both his parents but he was persistent enough that he had to be separated.
You could google bonobos, dolphins, and zoo penguins, but what would be the point?
My point is that we don’t take our morality from animals, or even from what is natural in humans - our fallen state.
Testing it all is cost-prohibitive. Additionally, it's not 100% accurate, and it does not detect recent infection since the test relies upon antibodies rather than the virus itself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.