I thought it was illegal to discriminate against someone based on sexual preference. Unless you’re the government. The rules don’t apply to the people who make the rules. They have their own rules. That’s why the FDA can ban gay people from donating blood for dubious reasons and get away with it.
WASHINGTON – Gay men remain banned for life from donating blood, the government said Wednesday, leaving in place — for now — a 1983 prohibition meant to prevent the spread of HIV through transfusions.
The Food and Drug Administration reiterated its long-standing policy on its Web site Wednesday, more than a year after the Red Cross and two other blood groups criticized the policy as “medically and scientifically unwarranted.”
“I am disappointed, I must confess,” said Dr. Celso Bianco, executive vice president of America’s Blood Centers, whose members provide nearly half the nation’s blood supply.
Intravenous drug users and "anyone who has been paid for sex" is also banned from donating blood forever. I wonder what test the FDA uses to figure out which potential donors have been paid for sex. Government can be incredibly asinine. If I had a choice between dying or receiving blood donating by a gay sex worker who shoots heroin on weekends, I’d take the blood.