better to give than to receive, mate

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Oct 09, 2005

Bigotry gets a bloody nose in Tasmania:

The Red Cross Blood Service may be forced to abandon its blanket ban on gay men, following a landmark anti-discrimination investigation into the case of a Tasmanian man turned away from a blood bank. The case is only the second of its kind in Australia, and the first since major improvements in blood screening technologies.

The Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group lodged a complaint with the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commission on behalf of 23-year-old Launceston man Michael Cain, who was turned away because he was in a same-sex relationship.

The commission will now investigate the case and has given the Red Cross two weeks to respond to the complaint. Mr Cain, who is a volunteer ambulance officer, said he wanted to give blood and was flabbergasted when he was turned away.

Rank homophobia on the part of the Red Cross. Think of the gifts gay men bring to the blood donor community!