Over a year ago, doctors disconnected Sheryl Moore's 16-year-old son from life support after his attempted suicide caused irreversible damage that he'd never survive. Her son, Alexander "AJ" Betts, chose to end has life as a result of being bullied by classmates who outed him as gay a year and half earlier.
Months before his suicide, the Iowa teen signed on to become an organ donor. But recently, Moore learned her son's last wish was not granted simply because of what many say is an antiquated policy enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Under the agency's regulations, created decades ago at the height of the AIDS epidemic, gay men are not permitted to donate blood and certain types of human tissue, which potentially could carry HIV and are therefore considered too risky for the donor recipient. Under the FDA's guidelines, donations by men who have had sex with men anytime since 1977 -- when the AIDS epidemic began -- aren't accepted.
In recent years, the gay activist community and many medical authorities have called for changes to the law, which they say is not scientifically based, and discriminatory since heterosexuals who have had sex with an HIV-positive person and also commercial sex workers need only to wait a year to donate. Additionally, organizations such as the Red Cross say the guidelines block access to potentially life-saving medical resources.
