Until this year, the Food and Drug Administration banned men from donating blood if they had ever had sex with another man, even once, since 1977. The new policy lets gay and bisexual men donate blood as long as they’ve not had sex for a year. But this still discriminates, say LGBT media watchdog group GLAAD and Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), so they enlisted actor Alan Cumming to get the word out via a “Celibacy Challenge” campaign. Starring as the head of the Department of Sexual Abstinence, Cumming says in the video: “If you’re gay and want to save lives [by donating blood], the FDA will let you, you just can’t have sex for an entire year…. Introducing: the Celibacy Challenge! To help you abstain from any naughty temptation, here are some fully approved activities guaranteed to make your year without sex fly by.” Cut to: a montage of faux-sexual activities such as cleaning rifles and drilling lumber. Then Cumming returns. “Or there’s another option. Sign our petition and share this video to pressure the FDA to change its questionnaire so donors are screened based on their exposure to risk and not their sexual orientation.”
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