They're just jealous because our sperm is more fabulous...

The Food and Drug Administration will decide to forgo science in favor of bigotry next week when they implement new rules that would effectively bar gay men from donating sperm.

To the dismay of gay-rights activists, the Food and Drug Administration is about to implement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor.

The FDA has rejected calls to scrap the provision, insisting that gay men collectively pose a higher-than-average risk of carrying the AIDS virus. Critics accuse the FDA of stigmatizing all gay men rather than adopting a screening process that focuses on high-risk sexual behavior by any would-be donor, gay or straight.

The FDA seems to think that gay men hold a higher risk of HIV infection than any other group regardless of behavior. So if a guy is a intravenous drug user who has had unprotected anal sex with a prostitute, there is no policy that bars him from donating sperm, as long as the prostitute is a lady.

This is the same nonsense that happens with gay men not being allowed to give blood. Red Cross says if a man has had sex with another man even ONCE since 1976, he may not give blood, even if he’s standing there with ten years of negative HIV test results in his hand. It makes no sense.

There is no special screening for any other group even those whose risks of transmitting HIV is greater than that of gay men. And there are other groups at higher risk these days. The FDA should be basing their decisions on scientific facts, not on bigotry and assumptions. This not only is this a homophobic policy that violates the civil rights of gay men, but effectively the FDA is putting out a dangerous message - one that implies you cannot get STDs through heterosexual relations.

There should be a screening process for all donors. I would like to think that all sperm and blood is tested for STDs and that there is no reason to exclude an entire segment of the population based on faulty inferences. Meanwhile I have but days to get my sperm donated to someone. I have yet to get any complaints about it. Any takers?