NO PANTS SUBWAY RIDE: Improv Everywhere on the 12th annual event.
THEY CAN EXPLAIN: A supercut.
LET GAYS GIVE: A plea for blood donation reform.
BIG FREEDIA: The Queen Diva.
For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.
If Andres Duque at Blabbeando is correct, then Mexico just bested the United States in the race to lift an archaic and homophobic ban on gay men and men who have sex with men from donating much-needed plasma:
A little noticed Mexican health norm first approved in August and then published in the country's regulatory Official Federation Diary on October 26th has gone into effect today essentially doing away with a two-decade ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men....
The old norm (NOM 003-SSA2) explicitly banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood based on their "practices" and their "increased probability of acquiring HIV or hepatitis infection".
The new norm (NOM 253) eliminates specific bans on gay and bisexual men and instead bans blood donations from people with HIV or hepatitis and their partners and people who engage in "risky sexual practices" regardless of their sexual identity.
First striking down a ban on marriage equality and now this? Mexico's really coming into its own on LGBT inclusion.
China's communist government quietly lifted its ban on lesbians giving blood this week. Men who are sexually active with other men, however, are still prohibited from donating life saving plasma.
Via CNN:
The Chinese Ministry of Health has lifted a 14-year-old ban on lesbians donating blood in effect as of July 1.
The ban still applies to men who are sexually active with other men, but celibate homosexuals are permitted to give blood, according to the Ministry of Health's website.
The original ban, enacted in 1998, barred homosexuals of both genders from donating blood out of a fear of spreading HIV and AIDS.
…
"It's scientific that the policy doesn't mention homosexual identity but only fences off some who have certain sex behaviors, because AIDS is not caused by one's homosexual identity but improper sexual behavior," [lesbian activist] Xian told the Global Times.
The United States, as we know, still bans men who have sex with men from giving blood.
An Indiana University teacher says he was arrested last week after telling Red Cross bloodmobile employees that they were in violation of the school's nondiscrimination policy for prohibiting donations of blood from gay men. The situation escalated, police were called, and the man was placed under arrest and spent a day in jail, he says.
I went in, waited for my turn, had my blood pressure and hemoglobin checked, and proceded to answer a computerized questionnaire. When it was reviewed by the Red Cross employee, I was told that because I answered the question about having had sex with other men the way I did, I would be deferred indefinitely from donating blood.
I, in turn, told her that she was in violation of the Indiana University nondiscrimination policy, which, among others, prohibits banning any person from participating in university activities on the basis of sexual orientation. She called another Red Cross employee, who in turn called another Red Cross employee, who in turn called Indiana University Police.
Two police officers arrived at the bloodmobile, refusing to listen to anything I had to say. They grabbed me, refused to read me my rights under Miranda, even when I explicitly asked them to (they eventually did, after I was handcuffed and placed in the police car), and only told me I was under arrest after I asked them whether I was.
I later learned from one of the officers that one of the Red Cross employees (he referred to her as a "nurse") accused me of spitting at her. That is a false accusation. But in the State of Indiana, spitting at someone is considered "battery," and the mere charge of battery warrants placing the person arrested for that charge in custody for 24 hours.
As I mentioned in September, a lifetime ban on blood donation by gay men, put in place during the AIDS crisis 25 years ago has been lifted (with restrictions) in England, Scotland, and Wales, The Herald reports:
...following a review by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (Sabto), men who have not had homosexual sex within a year will be able to donate if they meet certain other criteria. The move will be implemented in England, Scotland and Wales.
Men who have had anal or oral sex with another man in the past 12 months, with or without a condom, will still not be eligible to donate blood, the DoH said. They said this was to reduce the risk of infections being missed by testing and then being passed on to a patient.
Sabto's advisory panel, comprising leading experts and patient groups, carried out its review based on the latest available evidence and found it could no longer support the permanent exclusion of men who have had sex with men.
A lifetime ban on blood donation by gay men, put in place during the AIDS crisis 25 years ago is set to be lifted in England, Scotland, and Wales, though restrictions will still remain, the BBC reports:
Ministers have agreed to let men who have not had sex with another man in the past 12 months to donate from November. The restrictions were put in place in the 1980s to prevent the risk of HIV contamination. However, the latest medical evidence presented to a government panel argued the ban could no longer be justified. Ministers in the three countries accepted the argument and said they would be relaxing the rules. Northern Ireland is expected to make a decision soon.
In the U.S., men are banned by the FDA from giving blood if they have had sexual intercourse with another man at any time since 1977.
Extremist hate groups continue to use the ban to justify their demonization of gays.
Just a month ago, American Family Association's Bryan Fischer mentioned it. He said:
"I think this is one of the reasons where our argument is infallible...is the danger that homosexual contact imposes to human health. I gave blood here several weeks ago and I was asked three times...have you as a male ever had sex with another male one time since 1977. If I had answered yes, I would not have been able to give blood. The risk to the nation's blood supply is so severe that the risk that active homosexuals pose to the nation's health, to the nation's blood supply is so severe that if a man has had sex even one solitary time since 1977 - cannot donate blood. That, ladies and gentleman, tells you all you need to know."
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Recent Comments