Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, a Democrat,
on Thursday called on House colleagues to support Friday's National
Gay Blood Drive.
The drive, which is happening in 61
cities across America, highlights the FDA's lifetime ban on gay and
bisexual men from donating blood. Gay and bisexual men are
encouraged to bring straight surrogates to donate blood on their
behalf.
“I rise today in strong support of
the National Gay Blood Drive, because I know that being gay does not
implicitly make someone an unsafe blood donor,” Quigley said on the
House floor. “Our current FDA policy paints all gay and bisexual
men with the same brush, banning them for life based solely on
orientation instead of focusing on actual risky behavior.”
“Implemented in 1983 during the
height of the HIV crisis, the outdated policy is based on
unjustifiable fear and bigotry instead of science and facts. But
it's 2014. We have advanced blood screening and know much more about
how HIV is transmitted, so we need a revised policy to match. A
revision blood donating agencies support.”
For a list of participating donation
sites please visit GayBloodDrive.com.