Ronnie Childers, the senior class president at Harbor High School in Santa Cruz, California, has received at least 50 hate letters since complaining about the Red Cross' policy banning gays from giving blood during a blood drive at the school late last year.
Childers complained about the rules, established by the Red Cross in the 80's when officials feared that blood samples could be contaminated with the AIDS virus, after being denied the opportunity to donate.
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, “Some of the letters sent to Childers deride gay people as ‘evil' or admonish him to ‘think about it. Sex with the same sex is weird and sick' Some were sent from the area as evidenced by local postmarks.” Said Childers: “There are a couple key phrases [like], ‘I know where you go to school.' I think adults need to understand that letters like this are inappropriate.”
The school stands behind Childers, with the principal saying the school will be lobbying lawmakers to get the outdated donation rules changed: “We're going to put together some kind of letter. And instead of sending it directly to the FDA, where it will get ignored, we're going to start hitting federal and state legislators. Because if the state Legislature also gets behind this then maybe they'll listen.”
Gay student gets hate mail for activism [santa cruz sentinel]
