My friend Michael, who started this petition on change.org was recently featured in an article, written by Tim Jensen, that the Huffington Post is interested in running.

Please reblog this post and my post on Michael’s petition so the tumblr community can hear about this! I’ve witnessed the power of the Tumblr community backing petitions such as this one, and I hope I see it again!

And don’t forget to go sign Michael’s petition to Lift the Lifetime Restriction on Gay Men from Donating Blood!

My friend Michael began this petition on April 9th, 2012. He’s gotten 1,087 signatures so far, but he needs to get to 100,000! Please go sign his petition!

The Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability decided to uphold a discriminatory rule that bans men from donating blood if they have had sex with another male, even once, since 1977. This decision affects thousands of men who wish to donate blood but have been denied. According to the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, 219,000 more pints of blood could be donated if the ban is lifted. In a time where blood shortages cause many problems, such an increase is absolutely necessary. The Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability should lift the ban so that all men who are disease free are able to donate blood. Many U.S. senators, the Red Cross, and America’s Blood Centers all support the lifting of the ban.

The newest and most advanced testing can detect the HIV and AIDs virus up to 2 weeks before it has been contracted. Because of this, I am petitioning to change the deferral period from life to a month. This time period allows the tests to detect any tainted blood. This would allow gay men to donate blood as equally as everyone else.