The ban was established in 1983, during the beginning of the epidemic. Twenty-seven years later, the ban has been reiterated, and on what premise does the FDA have to maintain this ban? None. In fact, all this ban signifies is the stigma America still attaches to homosexual men and AIDS, one that is not supported by facts, but rather biased perceptions of the LGBTQ community. The FDA maintains that this policy is not discriminatory, though last time I checked, excluding people based on sexual orientation is considered discrimination.
The fact that the FDA has not banned (God forbid) black women from giving blood is quite interesting considering the fact that African American women make up over half of the new HIV/AIDS cases in the U.S. So why is it that the FDA is so intent on focusing on the gay population and not the black female population? Because of its need for exclusion. I doubt anyone is terribly anxious to donate their blood, but knowing that you couldn’t even if you wanted to reinforces the fact that you are still a second-class citizen in this country. When giving blood, the blood supposedly goes through several rigorous tests to ensure that the blood is uncontaminated and blemish-free. If this is the case, there is no need for this ban; it is biased and unfounded. Next, they may start requiring us to disclose how many sexual partners we have had. I wonder which number would be the limit.
Regardless of whether you identify as gay, lesbian, heterosexual, anti-gay, asexual, etc., this ban is relevant to all of us because it represents the stagnancy of this country when it comes to granting liberties for all people. We have made a significant amount of progress as a nation, but obviously we still have a quite a journey ahead of us, and racial discrimination is not the only hurdle we have to conquer. –constance collins
