I think I have begun to annoy my classmates. Nearly every opportunity that comes up in class which talks about discrimination, I end up talking about the gays. Today we were talking about how technology was used to oppress minorities. For instance, there was one tunnel built in New York that would allow only cars to pass through (no buses could fit). This meant that wealthy whites could drive their tiny cars to the beach but everyone who needed to take a bus could not go to the beach.
A question came up:
“… a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, ‘when scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men.’ It seems like Dr. King is suggesting that the further we progress in the field of technology, the further we regress in the field of morals. Do you agree with this sentiment? Does technology drive us away from our morals?”
Naturally I decided to bring up blood. Back in the 1980’s it seemed logical for the Red Cross to say, “Gays, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to donate blood.” Honestly, if tons of cases of AIDS were being reported and most seemed to be coming from gays, sure, I understand why the Red Cross would probably not want a lot of blood donations from gay guys.
Ah, but the times have improved. We now have much better technology that actually allows us to screen blood for HIV/AIDS and all the blood that is collected at blood drives must be screened. Yet gays still aren’t allowed to donate blood. Rather, gays who have had sex with someone since the 1970s (or some odd date). Why can’t gay donate?!
This actually answers the question with the inverse. In the 1980s, we did not have the technology (or it was not being used or it was expensive, I don’t know) to test. Therefore, morally, we decided to ban homosexuals from donating. Now we have increased technology, yet we use the outdated moral as a means of keeping gays from donating.
I brought this up in class today and no one seemed too phased by it. However, I mentioned this same bit of information to another class and people were shocked that gays can’t donate blood. They weren’t aware that this was happening. I think a lot of people do not realize just how oppressed gays are.
I’d like to start a guerrilla warfare on campus. Anytime opportunity presents itself to talk about gay rights, whether it be in class or on the quad or wherever, take it. Whenever a frat boy asks me to donate blood I look him in the eyes and say, “I can’t donate because I’m gay. They won’t let me.” I love watching his facial expressions as he tries to find something to say. Yes, massive petitions have been created to get our rights, yet occurrences such as the loss in Maine prove that that’s not enough.
I’m at a loss of what to do. Should we protest outside blood mobiles?
One last thing to think about: in Russia, gays can donate blood.
Just sayin’.
Liam Reed: 1987 model, runs fairly well, few dents, starts in cold weather, no baggage, loves flea markets and canned soup. Send all hate mail, love mail, and sexual advances to withtongue@gmail.com
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Liam Reed
1987 model, runs fairly well, few dents, starts in cold weather, no baggage, loves flea markets and canned soup. Send all hate mail, love mail, and sexual advances to withtongue@gmail.com
Collin (Collin) says:
(Posted November 11th, 2009 at 12:21 am)
I’ve been using Gayrilla Warfare since sophomore year of high school.
Too bad all of my music classes in college don’t present the opportunity like high school did…