Because accidents make you think of things you should be doing anyway...

[hellziggy]

I was actually at Memorial Blood Center's main office this morning and saw their sign about there being a critical shortage of Type O Blood right now. I was even planning on doing a "Go donate blood" post.
Then the bridge fell.
No matter what your blood type is, go donate if you are able, but ESPECIALLY if your blood type is O! (Hellbob, I'm looking at you!)

Comments

[genevra.livejournal.com]

Interesting... they don't post anything in their eligibilty guidelines about sexual orientation...

http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/0,1082,0_557_,00.html

[mle292.livejournal.com]

It's under HIV/AIDS

What it specifically says is:

You should not give blood if you have AIDS or have ever had a positive HIV test, or if you have done something that puts you at risk for becoming infected with HIV.

You are at risk for getting infected if you:

SNIP

are a male who has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977

The highest risk group is currently prostitutes. Because economics tends to force the least employed people into prostitution, black women are currently the largest growing risk group for HIV/AIDS. Prostitution is genuinely risky behaviour as far as sexually transmitted diseases are concerned, that's why "sex for money" or "sex for drugs" is in the group that should not donate.

Just being a gay man is not actually any more risky than being a black woman, though.

[genevra.livejournal.com]

Ah, missed that. Thanks!

[hellziggy.livejournal.com]

MLE explained it all pretty well down below.
Basically they don't discriminate against you being gay, they discriminate against men having buttseks. You can be gay and donate as long as you have never had sex with another man. They consier the gay buttseks to be just as bad as living in Africa as far as AIDS transmissions.