Blacklists

Me: *signing up to give blood at the Red Cross blood drive on Friday*
ChoosingPancakes: Where'd you get an email for a blood drive?
Me: On MatheyMail. Do you want me to forward it to you?
ChoosingPancakes: Sure! ...Oh wait, it wasn't a time thing, it was a China thing when I couldn't donate last time.
Me: Oh, shit, I might not be able to donate either. *goes to look at the list of African countries that you can't have had sexual contact with anyone from since 1977* Ah, [country redacted]'s not on the Red Cross's blacklist. And neither is [other country]. *pause* Blacklist. heh!
ChoosingPancakes and I: *burst into hysterical laughter*

Yay sex and saving lives can exist simultaneously! 

I Made a Difference

That's what my sticker from the Red Cross says. I donated blood today. One pint can save three lives. And because I'm African-American, my blood will most likely be used to save the lives of black children with sickle cell anemia, as 90% of all sickle cell cases in the US affect African-Americans.

This makes me feel good.

But so, so much of what the Red Cross stands for makes me feel terrible. It's hard for me to reconcile the three lives I will have saved with my actions today with the fact that my actions today supported an institution that so blatantly discriminates against so many of my friends. You can't give blood if you're under age 16, or if you weigh less than 110 pounds. You can't give blood if you're a drug addict, or if you use steroids, or if you're a prostitute. You can't give blood if you've ever tested positive for HIV, if you had an STI in the last year, if you've had malaria in the last 3 years. These things I can understand.

What I cannot and will not understand, now or ever, is the fact that you are ineligible to donate blood if you:

are a male who has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977.

I cannot and will not understand why one of the pre-screening questions asked me if I have ever had sexual contact with a person who was born in Africa.

DEAR RED CROSS, YOUR DISGUSTINGLY OVERT HOMOPHOBIA MADE SENSE IN THE 1980S, BUT HEY, GUESS WHAT, BLACK WOMEN HAVE THE HIGHEST AIDS RATES IN THE US NOW, NOT GAY MEN. AS A GROUP, THEY'RE AT NO SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER RATE OF CARRYING HIV THAN THE REST OF THE POPULATION. SO SLOW YOUR ROLL AND ALLOW MY FRIENDS F, M, S, R, B, A, ETC. TO DONATE. 
AND HEY, GUESS WHAT, NOT ALL OF AFRICA HAS RAMPANT AIDS. THERE ARE CERTAIN COUNTRIES THAT PUT YOU AT A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER RISK, BUT AFRICA IS NOT A CONTINENT TO BE BLANKET-DISCRIMINATED OVER. I'M NOT SURE MY ANCESTORS EVEN COME PREDOMINANTLY FROM AFRICA, BUT I AM OFFENDED BY THIS QUESTION, AND I AM FURTHER OFFENDED THAT HEY, GUESS WHAT, I WOULD HAVE IN THE PAST, AND HAVE NO OBJECTIONS TOWARDS IN THE FUTURE, FUCKING AN AFRICAN MAN AND IF THAT MEANS YOU DON'T WANT MY BLOOD THEN I DON'T THINK I SHOULD WANT TO DONATE.

The Red Cross is one of the most politically incorrect national organizations in this country, and I want something to be done about this. They're legitimately begging African-Americans to donate blood and marrow, but turning away hundreds of thousands of healthy willing gay black males who could, together, save literally MILLIONS of lives. Would I have been turned away if I'd slept with J? Are you anti-amalgamation too, Red Cross? Fuck you. FUCK YOU, RED CROSS. I love and respect all the help and good you do for this country, but I hate that you make me feel bad about doing good. Something is wrong there, and I am begging you to check yourself before I have to team up with the protesters and stop saving lives. 

How many more lives could Princetonians have saved today? Are your bigotry and your illegitimate fears worth their lives? ...I didn't think so.