"All types of blood are needed…unless you're gay," read the flyers posted around campus by Queer Student Union (QSU) last Wednesday. The group was protesting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule prohibiting gay men from donating blood.
The flyers were posted in anticipation of a campus blood drive to "raise awareness about healthcare issues affecting the LGBT community," including the FDA rule, according to QSU President Ayden Merino.
"This is a platform to start addressing conflicts concerning limited access in the US healthcare system for LGBTIQ individuals," said Merino. He also said that those in the LGBTIQ community have trouble with power of attorney rights, birth-room privileges and other areas within the healthcare system.
The FDA rule alluded to in the group's posters prohibits "men who have sex with other men" (MSM) from donating blood and has been in place since 1977, according to the FDA's website. The site says that MSM since 1977 have had HIV prevalence 60 times higher than the general population, and that the increased risk justifies the policy.
Merino and his group believe the rule "continues to stigmatize gay men as diseased," an attitude he said started in the late ‘70s and ‘80s when HIV/AIDS was known as "the gay cancer."
Merino said students interested in more information could email him at
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