$0 Last week I donated blood for the first time and discovered all the hoops and discomforts of paperwork they make the good Samaritans go through, as is the GovernmentâÂÂs way. After scouring through the scores of requirements for suitable donors, I came across one rule which in no uncertain terms stated that gay or bisexual men cannot give blood. $0$0 Well, I donâÂÂt want to make a sweeping generalization which might paint the government as bigoted. If a gay or bi man has had a dry spell that has been going on since 1977, there is absolutely no issue. Excluding that clause though, the beggars are choosers. In the eighties when technology was less developed and the AIDS epidemic was taking hold and just getting acknowledged in the mainstream, diseases like AIDS could be spread and were in some tragic incidents through blood transfusions. The disease was associated with gay men in the beginning, but it now affects many people. $0$0 There are many questions one must answer before giving blood, such as if they use condoms or have multiple partners. A condom works just as well on a gay man as it does on a straight one. I feel this bias feeds off of outdated stereotypes of gay men. Additionally, all donated blood is screened for abnormalities and diseases such as AIDS before it is used in a transfusion, which deems such thorough background checks less than crucial. $0$0 The government needs to get out of the eighties. These are the kind of subtle yet high-profile jabs which make it difficult for gay people to get out of the ditches dug for them by the very society they seek to belong to as equals.$0$0$0$0$0