I should point out that's Northern Ireland as well. There's still a ban in the rest of Ireland.
It's a hangover from the 80s HIV scare and the idea that gay people get it more frequently. The high level of conservative values that were rampant during the 80s caused a lot of grief and still does today.
There's no logic behind the ban at all.
It's dumb because gay men in monogamous relationships are a much lower risk for disease transmission than straight men and straight women with multiple partners.
So...
The CDC does have some solid grounds for the ban in the following context. If you look at population size and statistics, a gay man may be more likely to encounter a partner who is HIV+ simply because the numerical numbers of people in the LGBT community is smaller in comparison to the wider population. Now, the CDC can also make the argument there's concern for comorbid things like Hep C; also the window period for HIV, even though it is down to 3 weeks from exposure (at the earliest, i still caution patients that the time period is 1-3 months) is still not close enough - especially in a crisis situation like Orlando (medical liability issues)
But, i think that LGBT folks should have the same sort of freedom to donate blood as cisgender folks. There are LGBT people who are very good with their health and while pure numbers may say their risks are higher, especially among young people, there's enough evidence to back up Laura's point. A lot of this is politics but in a situation like this, I'd do it and try to do with the consequences later, especially since there is a shortage of a certain type of blood from what i last read.
Very sad...but other minorities went through this too...blacks dealt with this for a long time when the KKK used to firebomb homes and churches where large groups of folks died...don't think the Native Americans don't know about being on the end of mass killings as well. It's shocking because it is in 2016, but this is typical human behavior that hasn't really been addressed. Yes, they'll spin the possible ISIS connection, but for me, it is a hate crime executed in a massive way rather than a terrorist attack in the current definition.
Why i say is a hate crime? This is LGBT month here in the US. And there was another guy stopped at the LA pride armed and ready to shoot folks. So NYPD has to be out in force because we have one of the bigger parade marches here within the next two weeks.
Just sad all around...
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