One thing that has really burned me for years is the fact that I can’t donate blood. The Red Cross, in it’s bigoted wisdom, assumes that any gay man must automatically have AIDS, and therefore refuses blood donations. Of course, they accept donations from anyone else, you know.
Anyway, “Top 10 Conservative Idiots” puts the FDA on their list this week for yet more discriminatory idiocy:
The FDA announced new rules last week which would prevent homosexual men from anonymously donating to sperm banks “in the name of preventing transmittable diseases,” according to Yahoo News. Yes, despite the fact that there is a 72 hour test which will determine whether someone is HIV positive, despite the fact that straight men can also contract STDs, and despite the fact that the International Red Cross accepts blood donations from gay men, the Bush administration is stepping up its push to make sure that homosexuals are treated like second-class citizens. After May 25, “agencies that collect tissues or cells including sperm [must] ask the donor if he has had sex with men or used injectable drugs in the past five years. If the answer is affirmative in either case no donation is allowed.” I mean, this is utterly ridiculous. So you show up to donate sperm or blood. They ask you if you’ve had gay sex or injected drugs in the last five years. You say “yes” and you’re barred from donating. But if you say “no” then what – do they just take your sample on faith? Of course they don’t – they test it to make sure it’s safe. So if they’re going to test it anyway, what’s the point of asking the friggin’ question in the first place? Oh wait – I know. It’s to make homosexuals feel like sub-humans. Duh.
And this good news is followed up by:
While we’re on the subject, last week George W. Bush was seen celebrating the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education ruling which ended government-mandated racial segregation in schools. What a thrill it was to see Our Great Leader pontificating on the importance of civil rights and the bravery of the justices who made the decision. Later that day, in an ironic twist of space/time-bending proportions, Bush reiterated his call for a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and ranted on about “activist judges” who are subverting our sacred traditions. What, you mean like the sacred tradition of segregated schools? Let’s just hope it doesn’t take 50 years for the nutjobs to come around this time.
During the whole “Bush Celebrates Brown” surrealism, I kept thinking: 50 years ago Bush would have been righteously OPPOSED to government mandated integration and probably proposed changing the Constitution to insure it never happened. Now he speaks as if he and his are heir-apparent to the title “civil rights leaders.” History will not be kind to Mr. Bush and his ilk.