Five Reasons Why Homophobia Is The Only Possible Reason The FDA Won’t Change Its Ban On Gay Blood Donors

Since 1983, the FDA has placed a blanket ban on blood donations from anyone who has had sex with another man at any time since the nation’s bicentennial in 1976. The ban was instituted as hysteria about the AIDS epidemic was growing and blood screening technology hadn’t been instituted to detect the virus in blood donations. The FDA insists that the decision, now in its fourth decade is “based on the documented increased risk of certain transfusion transmissible infections, such as HIV, associated with male-to-male sex and is not based on any judgment concerning the donor’s sexual orientation.”

Bull.

As the FDA hearings on the ban this week have shown, there is no good scientific reason why gay men and men who have sex with men are singled out for treatment that no one else receives. The FDA insists that it’s concerned about the safety of the blood supply, but here are five good reasons why the agency seems to be motivated by anything but science.

1. The FDA is more lenient with straight men. Have unprotected sex with a female prostitute, and you have to wait a year before you can donate blood. Watch a Judy Garland movie anytime since Gerald Ford was president, and you’re a leper for life.

2. The agency doesn’t differentiate what kind of gay sex. The science proves that unprotected anal sex is a high-risk behavior for HIV transmission. Other types of sex don’t carry anything like the same risk. But the FDA doesn’t care what kind of sex you had, just that you had it with another man. In the FDA’s book, mutual masturbation is as good a reason to ban gay blood donors as unprotected anal sex.

3. Monogamy? Never heard of it. In a monogamous relationship? The FDA doesn’t care and it’s not about to take your word for it in any case. It just care that you’re knocking boots with another man. Imagine if they applied the same standard to heterosexual married couples.

4. Multiple experts have called the ban nonsense. The American Medical Association, the American Red Cross, and the American Association of  Blood Banks have all called on the FDA to change its policy on the grounds that its not based on sound science. A one-year deferral, which is common in many countries, would make more sense than a lifetime ban, they argued and would result in one additional transfusion-related infection every 32 years.

5. The technology is incredibly advanced. The most commonly used test to screen blood donations will detect HIV within nine days of the donor becoming infected. The risk of transmission from a donation is from anyone who just become infected with HIV within a little more than the past week. From the way the FDA acts, you think that science has stood still since Reagan was president.

The FDA panel that held hearings to consider lifting the ban was unable to come to any conclusion after two days of “heated deliberations.” The heat seems to come from something other than cold hard science. In the meantime, the agency seems intent on reminding us that the hysteria that fueled the response to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s is still alive and kicking.

JohnGallagher

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'Christmas With The Crawfords' To Premiere In NYC
A beloved New York tradition is slated to return this holiday season — and some of the city’s most iconic drag queens are going to be a part of it.

“Christmas with the Crawfords,” the hilarious holiday musical comedy, will hit NYC’s Abrons Art Center this December. Among the cast for this show is drag legend Joey Arias, starring alongside Sherry Vine, “Project Runway” veteran Chris Marsh and Connie Champagne.

“Christmas with the Crawfords” is based on an actual Christmas Eve live radio broadcast with the Crawford family in the 1940s.

The Huffington Post chatted with three of the show’s stars this week about their involvement with the production and what attendees can expect.

The Huffington Post: Why did you want to do this show?
Joey Arias: I wanted to see this show come back to New York after such a long absence — 12 years — because everyone needs to smile and laugh right now with everything going on in the world. New York is known for its great theater and pushing the envelope OFF Broadway, and this really does it in a big way. CWTC is also a metaphor in many ways — although a very twisted one! But when something goes wrong, some good comes out of it. And I love playing the role of Joan Crawford because she believed in herself until the very end. Even though she was out of the loop she always saw herself as THE QUEEN of silver screen — and more! Believing in myself has been how I’ve kept going this long so it’s perfection!

Chris March: I have done the show seven times now in various places and incarnations, but never as Christina. It’s the part I’ve always wanted to play. I guess I just relate to a vengeful, bitter ten-year-old girl who gets beaten by her insane mother with wire hangers. Hmmm… what does that say about me? Plus, I’m also the costume designer (nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costumes) and this show is an amazing visual treat!

Sherry Vine: I really wanted to do this show ever since I saw it the first time they did it in NYC years ago. I just thought it was a laugh riot and over the top. So, of course, I’m always down for that!

Why is this cast the perfect cast to do it?
Joey Arias: The cast is amazing! Donna Drake [director] and Richard Winchester [producer] were recasting because many of the San Francisco cast could not come to New York — except for Connie Champagne who is legendary for her portrayal of Judy Garland. Chris March is also an original cast member and costume designer — a beautiful marriage! Sherry Vine is from theater and is living for this… and Flotilla de Barge is perfect as Hattie MacDaniel (Mammy in “Gone With The Wind”). The other new members I’d never met before but they are so on fire with these characters. I stand there looking at them and think how strong they are in their commitment to this production. The casting was perfect! And of course… ME AS JOAN CRAWFORD?! I mean, who else?

Chris March: Every cast is different, and this year we have seasoned New York veterans sharing the stage with some fresh emerging talent. The dynamics are new and exciting, and you never know what’s going to happen. And let’s face it — who doesn’t want to see Joey Arias play the now legendary villain role of Joan Crawford? Let’s just say I’m not the only one dodging the wire hangers!

Sherry Vine: Well, of course, Joey Arias is perfect. Joey is one of those rare performers who isn’t scared to try anything. I love being onstage with her. This is the first time I’ve worked with many of the other performers and they are all fantastic. Chris March is hilarious as Christina, Flotilla is going to bring the house down with her number and everyone is bringing something special to this production.

“Christmas with the Crawfords” will run from Dec. 10-27, 2014 — head here for tickets and information.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/christmas-with-the-crawfords_n_6271392.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

HRC President Chad Griffin: “The Time Has Come in this Country for True Federal Equality”

Today HRC President Chad Griffin penned an op-ed for The Advocate to underscore the need for non-discrimination laws protecting LGBT people at the federal level.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/hrc-president-chad-griffin-the-time-has-come-in-this-country-for-true-feder?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

2015 Grammy Nominees Announced: LIST

Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2014/12/2015-grammy-nominees-announced-list.html

How Florida Could Spread Marriage Equality to Neighboring States

After marriage begins next month in Florida, it might not be long before Alabama and Georgia join in.

read more

Matt Baume

www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2014/12/05/how-florida-could-spread-marriage-equality-neighboring-states

DJ Nick Monaco on Honoring the Queer, Trans Roots of Dance Music

The androgynous deep house musician sounds off on his experiences with defying the gender binary, the rising tides of ‘bro’ culture, and his nonprofit lipstick line that aims to directly benefit trans folks.

read more

Mitch Kellaway

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2014/12/05/dj-nick-monaco-honoring-queer-trans-roots-dance-music

If You Think Michelle Bachmann Was Bad, Wait Until You Meet The New Wingnuts In Congress

Republicans won big in this year’s elections, but it’s not because the candidates suddenly become more moderate. If anything, there was a bumper crop of candidates from the furthest fringes of the right. Unlike past electoral road kill like Christine “I Am Not A Witch” O’Donnell and Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin, this year’s winners managed to keep their mouths shut during the campaign. Based on their views, however, rampant homophobia will certainly get a boost in the next Congress. Here’s a look at some of the worst of the worst about to take their seats in the nation’s capitol.

Tom Emmer

If you were thinking Michelle Bachmann’s replacement would have to be an improvement, you’d be wrong. Emmer is every bit as much a homophone as Bachmann was. As a state legislator, he introduced a bill that would ban marriage equality and — just to be on the safe side — civil unions.

Hice opposed anti-bullying legislation because he didn’t want the government intruding on parents (especially parents raising homophobic brats). And he gave money to pastor Bradlee Dean, who lauded Muslims for being “even more moral than the American Christians” because they execute gays. If anyone can meet Bachmann’s lofty standards, it’s Emmer.

Jody Hice

Hice is a pastor and radio talk show host, and he exhibits all the qualities that combination implies. As a new Congressman from Georgia, Hice is a walking compendium of the worst lies about homosexuality: it’s a choice, it leads to shorter lifespans, it causes depression. Police who arrested anti-gay demonstrators in New York engaged in “Gestapo-like” tactics, in Hice’s view.

Hice views marriage equality as driving down marriage’s market value: “Some ask the question, ‘How does same-sex ‘marriage’ threaten your  marriage?’ The answer is similar to asking, ‘How does a trashy neighborhood affect you?’” On top of all this, Hice is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, which is pretty dim to begin with. He took Michael Swift’s 1987 satire of gay revolution at face value and wrote how it revealed “the radical agenda that is currently threatening our nation.”

Glenn Grothman

Grothman won a Congressional seat in Wisconsin, where he distinguished himself in the state senate as an unrepentant bigot. Grothman introduced legislation that would have classified all gay parents as child abusers. He wanted to ban any discussion of sexual orientation in schools because it was part of a nefarious plot to corrupt youth. “Why sit down with 7th graders and say to some you will be heterosexual, some homosexual? Part of that agenda which is left unsaid is that some of those who throw it out as an option would like it if more kids became homosexuals, ” he said. Grothman longed for his high school days when “homosexuality was not on anybody’s radar.” Indeed, radar probably hadn’t even been invented then.

Alex Mooney

Despite being a carpetbagger from Maryland, Mooney won election to a Congressional seat in West Virginia. During his stint in the Maryland legislature, Mooney was a leading opponent of marriage equality, singlehandedly blocking it in the senate for years. “Even if homosexual ‘marriage’ comes in, it’s not going to stop; the radicals pushing this stuff are not going to stop,” Mooney said in 2008.“They’re going to go for ‘hate speech.’ If you actually speak against the homosexual lifestyle, maybe from the pulpit if you’re a pastor then you’re in trouble.”

Ken Buck

Buck lost a Senate race in Colorado in 2010, but this time around he found a congenial Congressional district happy to send him to D.C. Part of the reason Buck lost last time is that he willingly aired his extreme views. Most famously, Buck declared that homosexuality is a choice  because “you can choose who your partner is,” although genetics does play some role, just “like alcoholism and some other things.” With such enlightened views, Buck will fit right in with his colleagues.

Joni Ernst

Ernst is the new Senator from Iowa, and she learned the lessons of past elections well by making bland statements that mask extremist beliefs. For example, Ernst says that marriage equality should be left up to the states. However, as a state legislator, she was pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Iowa, one of the first states to legalize it.

More worrisome is Ernst’s allegiance to the extreme Christian Right. At a forum hosted for candidates by religious right leader Bob Vander Plaats, who was responsible for the campaign to oust three judges who legalized marriage equality in Iowa, Ernst parroted the belief that the Constitution should be considered a Biblically based document. Judges need to realize that the Constitution “did come from God” and that senators should “make sure that any decisions that they have made in the past are decisions that fit within that criteria,” she said. No one Pat Buchanan gushed that Ernst has “the same kind of attractiveness that Sarah Palin had at the start and that Michele Bachmann gained in the Iowa caucuses, being a very attractive, outspoken person, a woman in the GOP full of passion and full of hard-core philosophy.”

JohnGallagher

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