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submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

The American Red Cross is now allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood without restrictions that specifically single out a person’s sexual orientation or gender, the nonprofit group said Monday.

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 101 points 1 year ago

And it only took... *checks notes* 40 years!

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[-] IGuessThisIsForNSFW@yiffit.net 71 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Goddammit! I have o- blood and the red cross called me LITERALLY everyday after I donated the first time. I asked them to only call every quarter because I still did want to donate, but that just made them call every other day. Finally out of frustration I looked for anything that would make me ineligible to donate and the next time they called, I told them I was gay. All calls stopped after that.

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[-] MaiteRosalie@kbin.social 70 points 1 year ago

Great, now I can move forward with my plan of turning everyone gay by donating blood

[-] Poot@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 year ago

Convert 10 or more and you get a new toaster oven!

[-] Treatyoself@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

God speed 🫡

[-] Blumpkinhead@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Can I just get a little blood? I don't want to go full gay, I just want to be able to tell which sneakers I should wear with this outfit.

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[-] TopShelfVanilla@sh.itjust.works 44 points 1 year ago

Cue right wingers refusing transfusions. Actually, that's fine.

[-] gothicdecadence@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Blood is blood is blood. I'm sure that people who need it don't care if an absolute bigoted moron gave it to them, they wouldn't know anyways.

Edit: I'm the moron, you meant refusing taking blood, not giving it lmao

[-] Rachelhazideas@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

We should make it known to these people that it's 'gay blood' though. What they do with their own body is up to them because I support bodily autonomy, including dying of bigotry.

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[-] DocMcStuffin@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago

Maybe this is a cynical take, but will conservatives refuse a life saving blood transfusion because it may have come from a gasp gay man? I mean a bunch were refusing transfusions because the blood could have come from someone that had a gasp covid vaccine.

[-] zaph@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago

There are people who refuse blood transfusions because of relious beliefs and will let their children die. Of course there are some that would refuse "gay blood."

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[-] Tenthrow@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago

Conservatives might be getting some of that gay blood. Does that work the same as eating the heart of a warrior to gain their power?

[-] Blumpkinhead@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Yes, but instead of becoming more powerful, you become more fabulous.

[-] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Sign me up! Sound like A-positive to me!

[-] PaintedSnail@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Unless you're someone who tends to B-negative anyway.

[-] brlemworld@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Under the new guidelines, anyone who has recently had sex with a new partner or multiple people and has also had anal sex would have to wait three months to donate

Those taking oral medication to prevent HIV infection, called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, still have to wait three months from their last dose to donate blood. People taking long-acting PrEP injections have to wait two years before donating.

[-] snert@midwest.social 4 points 1 year ago

Also note that the Red Cross is usually quick to say it's actually the FDA that imposes these homophobic restrictions and it's "not their fault"

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[-] DebraBucket@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Darn, so straight people having anal raw dog gang bangs can no longer donate soon after experiencing a DVDA? How is that fair? /s

[-] itsyourmom@artemis.camp 19 points 1 year ago

Literally can’t even believe that was a thing!

[-] DaCookeyMonsta@lemmy.world 68 points 1 year ago

I think it was set up when AIDS was spreading amongst the gay community before they had a test for it.

Of course, now they can both test for it and it spread well beyond the gay community for a while so it's ridiculous that it was still a thing.

[-] JustAManOnAToilet@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago

They just removed restrictions for Brits that were in the UK between 1980-1996 too, so I guess they're just getting around to opening things up and this was on the list.

[-] Hyperreality@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Is the UK 1980-96 thing being removed too? That's cool.

Not just brits btw, but anyone who spent an extended time in the UK in the 80s/90s. IRC due to fears about CJD/Mad Cow's Disease.

[-] YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

I was stationed in UK and couldn't donate blood as a result. That was only ten years ago. Since they opened it back up I am getting constant calls to donate.

[-] ZodiacSF1969@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

Why? AIDS was a devestating epidemic. The blood banks were slow to act at all, and as a result many haemophiliacs acquired the disease and died. Gay men were the largest risk group for spreading and contracting it, so it makes sense to screen them out.

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[-] ryannathans@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

In my country gay men account for 90% of all HIV infections. It's very hard to ensure blood is free of HIV, as blood is infectious within three months of infection but won't test positive

[-] Oyster_Lust@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

I didn't know that was still in place, since they started testing for AIDS decades ago.

[-] Galexio@lemmynsfw.com 6 points 1 year ago
[-] itsyourmom@artemis.camp 5 points 1 year ago

I didn’t even know that was happening!

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[-] sachamato@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

In 2023. Unbelievable.

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this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
679 points (96.8% liked)

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