Twenty-two-year-old Aaron Pace knows blood is in him to give, but when he tried to do just that in Gary, Indiana, he was turned down for ‘appearing gay.’
“I was humiliated and embarrassed,” Aaron said over the incident. “It’s not right that homeless people can give blood but homosexuals can’t. And I’m not even a homosexual.”
I’m rolling my eyes that he’s “humiliated and embarrassed” over being perceived as gay, but he brings up a very valid point. Why can’t gays donate blood? Many times, I could’ve used the extra $40 bucks! The American Red Cross follows FDA regulations, which state that no man who has had sex with another man after 1977 can donate blood. The same laws are applicable in Canada. I don’t get it. Don’t they check the blood for HIV? Don’t straight people get HIV too?
It’s time for the FDA and the Red Cross to update their absurd and blatantly discriminatory stance on gay blood donations.
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