twenty-something

Another blood drive at work today. As always, it makes me feel like crap -- and then that makes me feel like selfish crap for feeling like crap in the first place. *sigh*

So I dug up a little piece I wrote for the school newspaper back when I was a self-righteous senior in '03. Enjoy.

Editorial: "I'm Real"

"Real Cats Give Blood!"

Or so the University Marché would have me believe. I bought a pack of gum there the other day and received a free squishy hockey puck emblazon with that slogan. I'll admit, I was a little excited when I got the thing. I didn't even ask for it, and I got a little surprise. It was cute and soft, seemingly harmless, and I was happy -- until I read its message.

Some would call that clever marketing. Others would call it a gift with purchase. I call it offensive and a disgusting display by University Dining Services and the Red Cross.

Why? Because of the message -- subtle as it may be, unintentional as it may be -- that slogan sends to people "like me," and to the campus as a whole.

I'm not a "Real Cat" because I can't give blood? And I can't give blood because I'm gay? Simple logic connects the dots.

I'm not a "Real Cat" because I'm gay.

Did you know that the Red Cross, due to a 1985 federal regulation, can't accept blood from a man who's had sex with another man since 1977 (even once)? Men who fit that criterion -- and any women they may have also slept with -- are banned, for life, from donating their blood. The government says that's a high-risk group for having HIV/AIDS. Eighteen years ago, the restriction was enacted at a time of great fear and uncertainty over the emerging disease. But we've come a long way since 1985, when AIDS was considered a "gay disease." Haven't we?

Not when it comes to donating blood.

The merits of this blood ban aside, that slogan -- "Real Cats Donate Blood!" -- is insensitive and reckless. With it, UDS and the Red Cross are sending an unacceptable message. I can deal with the posters around campus, the mass emails from Provost Bramley ("start off on the right foot" -- unless you're a gay guy), and the other, almost constant reminders outside the gym, or library, or dorms -- the reminders that I'm a "lesser person," that I'm viewed as diseased, that my blood's essentially worthless.

I endure that because I know the Red Cross is otherwise doing something wonderful. But when a University Department hands me a pretty clear message that states I'm not a worthy member of the Campus Community -- not a "Real Cat" -- because I'm ineligible to give blood, because I'm gay -- that's when it's gone too far.

Don't ban campus blood drives. The Red Cross does something invaluable. I firmly believe that the people running that organization, and those bringing them to campus, making those pucks, and handing them out (UDS), aren't evil. But, damn it, you all need THINK about your advertising a little more. Realize that there's an impact on this campus. That it hurts.

To my knowledge, University Dining Services is (or at least was) handing these pucks out to all customers at the Marché. I am not sure about other dining venues.

If you receive one of these pucks, I'd urge you to tell the cashier the same thing that the Red Cross would tell me if I tried to donate my blood.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

(Originally published January 2003.)