After Pulse Nightclub Shooting, Twitter Calls Out Hypocrisy of Ban on Gay Blood Donors
There's a lot that's troubling about Sunday morning's mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. One of those things is the fact that many victims need blood transfusions and many of their loved ones won't be able to help, because the Food and Drug Administration currently bars men who've had sex with another man in the past year from donating blood.
In December 2015, the FDA revised its recommended donation deferral period from lifelong to a year, sparking outrage within the LGBT community, which largely identified the ban as discriminatory. Ostensibly, the proscription exists as a means of lowering HIV transmission rates, but opponents question the FDA's logic.
"While many gay and bisexual men will be eligible to donate their blood and help save lives under this 12-month deferral, countless more will continue to be banned solely on the basis of their sexual orientation and without medical or scientific reasoning," the National Gay Blood Drive said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. The FDA, on the other hand, said its decision reflected "sound science."
Sunday's mass shooting is the largest in history to happen on American soil, Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer having placed the death toll at 50 thus far, with over 50 people wounded. O negative, O positive and AB blood donors are urgently needed at area hospitals, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Central Floridians: Blood donations needed for #Pulse victims. Especially, O positive, O negative and AB plasma. Contact local blood bank.
The irony of keeping many gay men from helping out in the wake of an attack on a gay nightclub has not been lost on Twitter.
Gay men still can't donate blood tho https://twitter.com/orlandosentinel/status/741985247919759360 ...
@RedCross @jaketapper keeps sending folks to donate blood for #Orlando victims. You accepting blood from gay men yet or nah?
Chris Jansing just asked are people donating blood. This country won't even allow sexually active gay men to donate blood to save gay men.
Only thing I'd add to saddest tragedy in Orlando: It's made even more tragic and sad that gay men are prohibited from donating blood to help
Despite the ban, donation lines in Orlando are long — one Twitter user shared video footage of people queued up for over a block to give blood, pointing out that "some good," at least, comes in the wake of a tragedy.
Some good: a video of the line to give blood in Orlando right now (taken by my best bud)pic.twitter.com/0jx8JKvm6D
Rumors that the ban had been temporarily lifted would appear to be false. The phone lines at OneBlood's Orlando centers are busy, but in a tweet, the donation organization confirmed that the FDA's recommendations remain in place.
All FDA guidelines remain in effect for blood donation. There are false reports circulating that FDA rules were being lifted. Not true.
The shooter has been identified as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man from Port St. Lucie, Florida. The incident is being investigated as an act of terror, but Mateen's father has insisted that the motivation wasn't at all religious. Rather, he said, Mateen's would seem to have been a hate crime. According to his father, he acted out of extreme anger at seeing two men kiss in Miami some months back.
Read more:
• Bernie Sanders Just Nailed the Real Culprit Behind the Mass Shooting in Orlando
• In the Wake of the Orlando Nightclub Shooting, the LGBT Community Won't Be Intimidated
• Father of Pulse Nightclub Shooting Suspect Says Massacre Motivated by Anti-LGBT Views
June 12, 2016, 1:06 p.m. Eastern: This article has been updated to address rumors that the FDA's donation ban had been lifted.