By Kirsten Boye and Julia Matias

As many University students rolled up their sleeves for the bi-annual blood drive Wednesday, another group of students stood in the atrium handing out stickers that said, “Stop the Blood Ban.”

The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) and the Progressive Students Union (PSU) held a small demonstration during common hour against a policy of the Long Island Blood Center. The policy prohibits men who have had same-sex sexual contact and women who have had sexual relations with such men from donating blood. The given reason is same-sex sexual contact raises chances of acquiring HIV.

“Blood is blood and they are testing it anyway,” said Brian Shoicket, a freshman religion major, who donates blood to the Red Cross in his hometown when not in the New York area. HIV testing is not foolproof, however, since there is a “window period” after infection when the virus is not apparent on tests, according to the FDA.

A representative from the blood drive said that they do not have control over who they can allow to give blood. Since blood is considered a drug, it is under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is approving the policy. The current FDA rule is that men cannot give blood if they have had sex with another man at least once since 1977.

Eric Dubinsky, a senior psychology major, joined the protest and held a sign that read, “Donation not discrimination.” He said that GSA does not wish to discourage students from giving blood; they simply wish “to see the policy changed.”

“The policy is discriminatory against gay people,” Dubinsky, a member of GSA and PSU, added. “If we lift the ban, we’ll have more blood. There’s a shortage of blood, so lifting it would allow for more.”

Sophomore Sheria Mattis said that she joined the protest to raise awareness because the blood drive “is purely discriminatory.” Other signs at the protest included “It’s all platelets to me” and “Give blood for those who can’t.”

Bystanders at the Student Center also had strong opinions about the policy. Alex McHale said that donating is too strong of a gift to be taken away.

“Even though there is a policy by the FDA, I feel that sexual orientation shouldn’t be a factor in donating blood that will save other people’s lives. The willingness to give to such a charity should overcompensate the discrimination against those individuals,” McHale, a freshman political science major, said.

The Long Island Blood Drive does not wish to stop these students who are protesting, but are instead encouraging them to forward their complaints and to begin a petition to help change the policy.

According to Dubinsky, the Long Island Blood Services were “supportive” of the demonstration presented by GSA and PSU. Additionally, PSU members created a petition that stated their cause and position, having those who donated blood during the day sign.

Members of PSU created colorful signs and banners in the student center atrium to raise awareness about current blood donation policy.