In the wake of the Orlando shooting officials are urging people to donate blood to the surviving victims of this tragedy.
Many have been showing up with lines outside the door to donate blood. However, any man that has had sex with another man within the past year has been banned from donating blood because of the Food and Drug Administration Policy.
Dating back to 1985, the FDA’s policy went into affect near the start of the AIDS epidemic, where originally all gay and bisexual men were prevented from donating blood.
However, it wasn’t until last year when the FDA loosened its policy to just men who have had sex with other men within the past year.
Although some are prevented from donating blood, people are still encouraging those who are able to do so. Some from the LGBT community even used social media to encourage those who are heterosexual to go out and donate blood on behalf of those who can’t.
OneBlood is encouraging people to donate blood over the next few days.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/orlando-gay-club-shooting-blood-donors-ban_us_575d8202e4b0e39a28add7f0
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