WATCH: Alan Cumming stars in campaign to ‘promote celibacy’
Alan Cumming stars in a new campaign to equalise blood donations, demanding that gay men be able to give blood without having to be celibate for a year.
Actor Alan Cumming stars in a GLAAD and GMHC campaign that calls on the FDA to screen all donors based on risk, not sexual orientation or gender identity.
Gay and bisexual men were banned from donating blood until the FDA recommended that the ban be lifted, instead, gay and bisexual men will soon be able to give blood but only if they haven’t had sex with a man in a year.
The campaign, jokingly titled the Celibacy Challenge, is calling for the FDA to implement a blood donation system that screens all donors based on risk for HIV transmission, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Watch the campaign video below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYXxMO_mTBY]
Cumming stars as a representative from the ‘Department of Sexual Abstinence’ encouraging men to be celibate for a year so they can donate blood. Instead of having sex with men, those who want to donate blood are encouraged to try some other activities, with each activity looking phallic in appearance.
Campaigners have called the FDA’s policy that gay and bisexual men abstain from sex for a year “unrealistic”.
“Stereotypes have no place in saving lives,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “The FDA’s proposed change still means that countless gay and bisexual men will be turned away from blood banks simply because of who they are. GLAAD is proud to stand alongside GMHC and Saatchi & Saatchi NY to shed light on this important issue.”
Kelsey Louie, GMHC’s CEO, saidL “The FDA’s ‘revised’ policy continues to fan the flames of the outdated stereotype that HIV is only a ‘gay disease.”
The campaigners are asking people to share the video under the hashtag #CelibacyChallenge and to sign the petition which can be found on their website www.celibacychallenge.com.
