A Year Without Sex Proves a Point
A gay man recently abstained from sex for a year just so he could donate blood, hypothetically the first such donation in decades. Since 1983, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned blood donations from men who have sex with men for fear of HIV transmission. That rule was replaced in 2015 with another that still discriminates against gay men by requiring them to go a full year without any sexual contact before being eligible to donate blood.
Zack Ford, LGBT editor at ThinkProgress.org, reports Jay Franzone, an openly gay man, was able to donate blood legally week when he went without sex for a year just to do a good deed – and prove the absurdity of the rule.
“I [could not] even receive oral sex over the course of one year but my best friend can sleep with eight different women in a week and go donate blood, no problems — without any protection.”
London HIV Rates Are Falling Down
Four London, England sexual health clinics have reported seeing 40% fewer HIV infections in 2019 over the previous year. The finding coincides with gay men’s ability to purchase pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication online. PrEP greatly reduces the chance of contracting HIV. However, researchers were reluctant to credit the lower HIV infection rate to online PrEP.
