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Political correctness should never trump public safety!

By Scott Tibbs, January 28, 2011

Note: I submitted this this letter to the editor of the Indiana Daily Student earlier this week. See my previous letter to the editor and follow-up blog post from February and March of 2008.

To the Editor:

According to statistics gathered by the Centers for Disease Control for 41,087 HIV transmissions in 2008, 22,469 infections were from male-to-male sexual contact. This is 54.7% of HIV infections. "Male-to-male sexual contact and injection drug use" accounted for another 1,141 HIV transmissions in 2008, according to the CDC.

Furthermore, male-to-male sexual contact has accounted for 513,138 of AIDS diagnoses through 2008, or 48% of the 1,063,778 diagnoses tracked by the CDC. All of this information is available on the CDC's web site, www.cdc.gov.

Keep in mind that male homosexuals represent a huge percentage of HIV/AIDS transmissions despite the fact that they are a tiny minority of the entire US population.

The blood donation policy that excludes male homosexuals from giving blood is based on solid statistical data. This is not about "discrimination" or "judgment" of anyone, but protecting public health and ensuring the blood supply is as safe as possible. It is irresponsible, selfish and dangerous to demand that male homosexuals be allowed to donate blood despite the very real increased risk that the blood they donate will be tainted with a deadly virus. Political correctness should never trump public safety!

As a former officer in the IU College Republicans, it was especially disappointing to see the current president of the College Republicans buying into the politically correct nonsense regarding the "discrimination" in blood donation policy. Abandoning sound public policy to embrace a Leftist political agenda is not something that any Republican should be doing.