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National Gay Blood Drive

Floor Speech

Date: July 10, 2014
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Health and Health Care

Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the National Gay Blood Drive, because I know that being gay does not implicitly make someone an unsafe blood donor.

Our current FDA policy paints all gay and bisexual men with the same brush, banning them for life based solely on orientation instead of focusing on actual risky behavior.

This Friday, at National Gay Blood Drives in 61 cities across our country,
gay and bisexual men will stand with straight allies to call for an end to this discriminatory policy.

Implemented in 1983 during the height of the HIV crisis, the outdated policy is based on unjustifiable fear and bigotry instead of science and facts. But it is 2014. We have advanced blood screening and we know much more about how HIV is transmitted. We need a revised policy to match--a revision blood donation agencies support. We can no longer treat gay and bisexual men as second-class citizens or turn away healthy would-be donors who could be providing lifesaving blood.

I urge all my colleagues to support the National Gay Blood Drive and help America move one step closer to true equality for all.


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