If only giving blood were so easy, Seth…
Nov 18th, 2005 by Jordan
Seth says today that for him, you get more than you give. He says:
First, it’s about overcoming a basic primal fear
Second, you need to meditate while doing it. You really can’t take a phone call.
Gee Seth, I wish it was just that easy. I’m a walking sack of blood, I’m a big guy who’s not scared of needles and never faints, and I have a willingness to help others. The problem? The Red Cross doesn’t want my blood, because I’m gay. Don’t believe me? Google “Red Cross gay blood ban“. And it’s not just that they don’t want it, but I’m on a national “blacklist” for donors. I can never give blood, even though I am a healthy, HIV-negative individual. Oh yes, this is a status I achieved in high school, even before I had any “fluidic exchange” with a man, because I admitted to Nurse Bitchface that I had fooled around with another guy.
And this? “(no barriers, no bureaucracy… just action)” Wouldn’t it be great if the world wasn’t ruled by bureauracy? Frankly, I find it just as insulting as when I receive those “EMERGENCY ACTION” letters at work, asking for “all available donors” to please give blood because the supplies are “critically low!” So low that we can’t let any man who’s ever given another man a handjob to give blood!
I realize these efforts (emergency blood drives, posts about giving blood) are for the good of the people that the blood benefits. But the fact of the matter is, it’s hypocritical to constantly cry wolf, and at the same time deny people who want to give blood because of decades-old assumptions about homosexuality. If they don’t my blood, fine. Let me find a knife to help them cut their nose off, just to spite their face…