This three-and-a-half minute video gives the story:
When your friends and neighbors volunteer to go in to donate blood, this is an act of community consciousness. Certain questions need to be asked before drawing blood as a kind of pre-screening. Every time I have gone to a school or other community blood drive, they believe me right away when I truthfully tell them that yes, I'm gay and I have had sex with a man since 1977. But when I tell them that past testing and my sexual behavior for the past several decades both indicate with some certainty that I am HIV-negative, they sadly shake their heads and say, "Sorry, FDA regulations prevent us from accepting any blood donation from you."
Companies, churches and schools sponsor blood drives. A member of one of these groups who happens to be gay or bisexual, especially when living in the closet, will be left out and outed if they answer truthfully the prerequisite questions, no matter their health status. A closeted man or one who has occasional sex on the D.L. is thus encouraged to lie on the form so that he can also get a little sticker that says "I Gave". Does this sound like good health policy?
Having gone from kidney failure when my blood was toxic to the transplant that gave me such a healthy additional kidney that my blood is now super-healthy, I am particularly sensitive to this issue these days. By my taking good care of myself, even in the throes of passion, and the doctors and nurses helping to save my life and return me to glowing good health, I have precious blood and bone marrow to donate. But I have been involuntarily tatooed.
So consider signing the petition to the White House at http://www.gayblooddrive.com/
this month.
Namasté.