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Gay man fighting for right to give blood

Posted at 6:50 AM, Dec 03, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-03 06:50:34-05

Twenty-year old Jordan Moll-Vigrass of North Tonawanda says he wanted to give blood in October, but was denied.

"There is a process where they ask a bunch of questions and one of them was had I had sex with a man since 1977," said Moll-Vigrass. "I answered yes because I'm openly gay and in a four-year relationship. The receptionist came in and reviewed my answer, saying I was definitely banned from donating blood."

Moll-Vigrass was unaware of the federal law in place by the FDA for more than 30 years, prohibiting gay men from donating blood.

Now he's fighting for the right to give blood. He says this law could be hurting people in our area and across the country. "At this moment, it's discrimination," said Moll-Vigrass.

He has been in touch with politicians and other leaders in the community.

The FDA has addressed this concern by issuing a proposed amendment decreasing the deferral time to one year of no sexual contact with another man before giving blood.

Moll-Vigrass says this fight is not only for the rights of gay men, but for everyone.

"If you ever need blood, it's a death sentence because they won't take blood from perfectly healthy people because of who they had sex with," said Moll-Vigrass.

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