“We’ve had several inquires from people who have never donated with us before, asking about donating at one of our centers”, said a Community Blood Center Supervisor Lisa Purpura. The regulation still stands which is, if you are a gay man, you can not donate blood if you have had sexual intercourse within the a year ago.
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In December, the Food and Drug Administration amended a ban that had been in place for more than 30 years, preventing gay and bisexual men from giving blood because of concerns of HIV transmission.
Jose Vega with Oklahomans for Equality said the rules are heartbreaking at a time most gay men want to help out in any way they can to comfort victims that shared their same sexual orientation.
He said, after the shooting, the American Association of Blood Banks, AABB, enacted its task force.
Oklahoma blood is on its way to Orlando to help the shooting victims still recovering in the hospital.
However, that donation left them with limited units of O negative blood for emergencies across the state.
“Either I go online and make an appointment or they call me and make an appointment”, Miller said.
Dressler says once United Blood Bismarck was notified of the shooting, the clinic sent pints of blood to try and help. Those are the blood types that are needed the most. “But again, I can be healthy and still not be able to donate blood”, Hampton said.
On this World Blood Donor Day, congressional Democrats are pushing for the removal of a decades-old ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.
However, the FDA said that it did not have enough scientific evidence to support the removal of the ban. LifeSource sent a shipment of blood to Orlando on Sunday, and was encouraging people to donate to replenish the blood supply.
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While many have come forward to donate blood, gay men in Florida are prohibited from doing so.
