Science, math, statistics and logical human thinking are against you.

Why is it so hard to understand what the reasoning behind that ban is?

I like the idea of Homophobes getting some gay in them, might lighten them up a tad.

my problem is your need to start making attacks on someone because you dont like their position. he thinks the laws are stupid and discriminatory, so you feel the need to make personal attacks, which arent actually excused just because you add "your statement makes you sound...".

frankly i dont care one way or the other how you feel about them.

additionally the laws are stupid.   because anyone can just lie about their sexual activity when giving blood.   and those most at risk are the "straight" guys, the kinds that oppress and deny themselves, then end up in risky situations like having sex in public bathrooms or parks.  the kinds that also arent likely to admit they fuck guys and perhaps even would use the blood donation system to secretly get themselves then tested.    how do these laws protect against these people?   people in this thread are talking like every third gay person has aids and they all get together for giant community orgies every weekend.   im sure that stds are of greater concern to the average sexually active homosexual than they are to the average sexually active heterosexual who almost always only use a condom to prevent pregnancy.  and last i saw about STD rates in the US they were most prevalent among straight young black women.  so i guess we should just ban black people as well.  at least they cant lie about that one. 

the system doesnt get enough donations to just exclude perfectly perfectly healthy responsible people.

It's a sign of an advanced country that takes many precautions to ensure that their population is safe from HIV. It's not homophobic at all.

So by your logic it would be racial profiling to not take blood straight from some Nigerian or Ethiopian immigrants then. Its not fair to descriminate against Africans, just ignore the fact that these types of countries have the highest AIDS rates in the world and take their blood! Its the morally right thing to do. 

I would laugh in the face of anyone who says that this policy was homophobic. It doesn't make sense now because I'm sure there are high tech/accurate screening methods for HIV/AIDS in the blood they get...but back in the 80's when they made this rule they didn't have accurate methods to detect AIDS. It was to protect the public, not to discriminate.

US Airport Security strip-searching every person they see with a turban is discrimination...this policy wasn't.

Those laws are really stupid.

It doesn't matter if AIDS is more common among the gay male population because it's not being gay that augments your chances of contracting HIV, it's being promiscuous. Are gays generally more promiscuous than straight people? Sure but if they change the question to "Have you had more than X partners in the last six months", then they wouldn't turn away people like me who have been with the same partner many years.

Read his reasonings.

Then think.

Then tell me again that he is "only" posting his position.

He came in here calling everyone and the world homophobic, so why should I not reply in the same manner he did? He offended and insulted me first, I just gave it back.

That's not strictly true. EVERYONE who wants to give blood has to complete a questionnaire first which will be read over with you by a nurse before they even let you give a drop of blood. I'm unable to give blood, and it's not because I'm gay or sexually promiscuous (I am neither). It's actually because I'm iron deficient.

But I don't think that my having the same right to donate blood as everyone else is as important as the rights of the people who NEED that blood. They require safe, good blood with no risk of contamination and up until now, the possibility of contamination has always been the reason why homosexual men were not permitted to donate. Thankfully, recent science is proving that the blood is now safe. It's all about science, not equality.

It's not about isolating a group of people, its about protecting those who need the blood.

You can find out more about it here and a copy of the form and its questions are available here.

Back in the 80s they labeled AIDS a 'gay disease', which is one of the main reasons why it took so long for action to be taken against it ('who cares about the gays? It's great that there's this disease whiping them out!'), and it spread as much as it did (affecting everyone, reagrdless of sexual orientation).