Greek Life?

From the Mason City Globe Gazette:

Some student groups will not participate in an annual blood drive this week at Iowa State University to protest federal rules that prevent some gay men from donating.

Up to 500 blood donations are expected to be lost as a result of the decision by Greek Week officials, said organizers of the Ames blood drive, the largest student-run blood drive in Iowa.

The loss of that much blood comes at a time when Iowa blood banks are already seeing supplies run short because of recent storm-related cancellations of blood drives and fewer walk-in donors.

...

U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules prohibit men who have had sex with another man since 1977 from giving blood.

...

The FDA says research shows that men who have had sex with men are 60 times more likely to be infected with the AIDS virus than the rest of the general public.

I wouldn't want a little thing like HIV to stand in the way of people donating blood. While we're at it, why don't we let intravenous drug users who share needles donate?