Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
No, it's not. It's based on anti-science, homophobia and fear. All donated blood goes through stringent HIV testing that is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was 30 years ago.
Edit: Apparently this is an FDA policy and not a Florida law, so my apologies on that one.
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I actually think this is a time for solidarity, and community-wide donations should certainly be a big part of it.
No, the reason for the policy is absolutely not homophobic, and definitely not anti-science.
There is still a window between infection, and when the tests can reliably identify antibodies to the virus - typically 6 weeks, but safely at 3 months. Antigen testing is effective 5 days after infection, but would be prohibitively expensive for every donation.
Promiscuous gay men are still the single group most at risk for infection. By disallowing gay men who are celibate for 5 years, you eliminate a great deal of possible infections.
The ban extends to many other groups as well.
EDIT: Looks like last year that the FDA revised the deferral period for 1 year of celibacy for gay men.