This past Sunday a horrible act of terrorism occurred at Pulse Night Club, a gay club located in Orlando, Florida.
An armed gunman entered the club and opened fire killing 49 people and leaving over 50 other injured.
Local hospitals were in desperate need of blood and encouraged people to come out and donate to help save the lives of the victims of the shooting.
But because of the restrictions set out by the FDA, gay men, the group of people that was targeted during this attack, were not allowed to donate.
These “deferrals,” as the FDA calls them, were first put in place in 1983, during the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.
They were put into place back when there still wasn’t much information out there about HIV/AIDS and a false stigma existed that made people think only gay people could contract the disease, which we now know to be far from the truth.
It is true that back then HIV/AIDS were more common within the LGBT+ community, but that is because at the time the use of protection during sex wasn’t thought to be necessary and was rarely ever used.
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The FDA had initially banned any man who had sexual contact with another man and any women who has had sexual contact with a man who had sexual contact with another man.
In 2015 the rules were loosened up slightly and now only restricts men who have had sexual contact with another man within the last twelve months. This prevents any sexually active gay man to be a donor.
These rules are outdated and this week prevented some members of the LGBT+ community from being able to give blood to help support and potentially save lives of the victims of their own community who were attacked.
In recent years precautions been taken within the LGBT+ community to raise awareness about contracting HIV/AIDS as well as the importance of using protection and getting regularly tested.
There have also been many scientific advancements since the restriction was first put into place and now all donated blood is screened for many different types of blood-borne, diseases including HIV/AIDS.
The ban on gay men donating blood needs to be lifted.
It was written decades ago based fear and false stigmas.
We have progressed far enough to know now that any person can contract HIV/AIDS, not just gay men.
We need to stop excusing these negative stereotypes and make a change to these rules.
Every healthy and able person should be able to help their communities and donate in trying times such as these, and we need to no longer let ignorance stop them from doing so.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
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Harper Lee Dies At Age 89
UPDATE: 11:07 AM EST
According to multiple sources, Harper Lee, the author of “To Kill A Mockingbird” has died at age 89.
Lee died in her hometown of Monroeville, AL according to AL.com.
Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 for “To Kill A Mockingbird” and lived a life that didn’t seek out the spotlight.
This is breaking news. More to come as we get it.
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KKK Wins Big Victory In ‘Adopt-A-Highway’ Case
ATLANTA — The Ku Klux Klan’s legal bid to participate in Georgia’s “Adopt-A-Highway” program may proceed to trial, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. In a unanimous opinion, the state high court ruled against the Department of Transportation’s attempt to scuttle the case, saying the agency failed to follow correct procedure in filing its appeal. In… Read More
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If Trump Wins, It Won’t Be Because Of His Insults
By Geoff Blades
A top headline said, “Trump plans to insult his way to victory over Clinton.” While it is true that Donald Trump is a skilled insulter, in believing that he crushed sixteen of his GOP rivals by slapping a few labels on them, many observers fail to see the true source of his winning.
In the debate in Nevada last December, Jeb Bush said to Trump, “You’re never going to be president of the United States by insulting your way to the presidency.”
Trump replied, “Well, let’s see, I’m at 42 (percent) and you’re at 3 (percent), so so far I’m doing better.” In thinking that Trump was insulting his way to the presidency, Bush failed to see how Trump was thumping him, and those who make the same mistake will keep missing Trump’s real threat to Hillary.
It is of course true that Trump is already insulting with his favorite phrase, “Crooked Hillary,” but that’s only a small part of Trump’s winning playbook, and the way that he plans to beat Hillary.
And, the truth is, like tuning into a chess match that is already half way through, most of the game has already been played, and Trumps has already made most of his winning moves. Here’s five of his most crucial ones:
1. Trump’s insults are the rifle shot:
Trump insults his rivals as a way to easily disarm their attacks on him, as well as to destroy their campaigns. Consider that by labeling Ted Cruz, “Lyin’ Ted,” no matter what Cruz would throw at Trump, including legitimate accusations, Trump simply redirected to his form of character assassination. An example being lines like, “No, no. You’re the liar. You’re the lying guy up here.”
It’s a savvy move that Trump uses exceptionally well, but his insults are merely the smoking gun in his winning campaign.
2. His campaign isn’t about his rivals:
Every time a politician focuses on attacking their rival, they fail to keep driving their own messaging.
A reason that Donald upstaged all of his rivals in the debates was that, prompted or unprompted, they kept focusing attention on him. This handed Trump what he most desperately sought: More airtime and the most potent weapon of his campaign: the mic.
Of course, with mic in hand, Donald cleverly insulted a number of his rivals out of the race, but they’ve never been the target of his winning campaign.
3. Trump targets voters:
In a boxing match, the winner is the fighter who successfully beats down their opponent, but in an election, the winner is chosen by the voters.
While one way Trump beat Jeb Bush was having voters associate him as “Low Energy,” Trump’s hasn’t built his campaign on beating down his rivals, but by offering voters a more compelling vision and message.
Trump, by far, developed the best messaging of any candidate, and won the nomination by bringing millions of voters along with his campaign.
4. It’s about America:
Whereas Jeb Bush was running based on his name, exclamation point included, and Hillary is running as a woman, Barack Obama took over the country running on a platform of “Hope,” “Change,” and “Yes we can.”
Trump has done the same. Despite having a powerful brand and personality, perhaps ironically, Trump’s campaign has never been about him, but about his rally cry to “Make America great again.”
While a number of his rivals have stood for themselves or “not Trump,” Donald stands for America, and, of course…
5. How we can be great again:
Of the many lessons to be gleaned from Barack Obama’s masterful 2008 campaign, perhaps the greatest lesson is the way in which he moved voters with his optimistic vision for the country.
Optimism sells. And beyond Trump’s attention-grabbing insults and controversial comments that he has used to masterfully hog the spotlight, Trump has built his movement the same way.
I’m told that Jeb Bush still believes that Donald thrashed him with his school yard taunting, and by failing to see that he lost because he entered the race without an optimistic vision and powerful messaging, we all fail to learn the lesson.
If Trump wins, it won’t be through insults, but because he has offered American’s something they desperately want more: A leader who can make us great again.
Geoff Blades is the author of the new book, “The Trump Presidential Playbook”. A former investment banker at Goldman Sachs and investor at the Carlyle Group, Geoff Blades is an advisor to CEOs and other leaders on all topics related to winning and getting what they want. For more information, www.geoffblades.com.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Patrik Nygren/Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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