Assembly endorses Pride letter to FDA

A proposal, requested by KSC Pride, for Student Government sponsorship for a letter to the Food and Drug Administration was approved at the Student Assembly meeting Tuesday, March 9.

KSC Pride President Matt Gill asked for endorsement from the Assembly on drafting a letter to the FDA in an attempt to repeal a law prohibiting homosexual men from donating blood.

Gill organized the Bad Blood Boycott on campus last month. Gill said the effort was to educate students about the FDA estrictions.

“The policy is based completely on discrimination,” Gill said. “It’s based on no scientific data, just complete discrimination.”

Gill said he learned about the restrictions of the FDA when he volunteered at an American Red Cross Blood Drive as a freshman.

“I was asked if I ever had male to male sexual contact and I answered yes to be honest,” Gill said. “I was told I could never donate blood ever and I was shocked by this.”
Gill presented a recent letter to the FDA written by Massachusetts Senator John Kerry asking the FDA to repeal the policy. Gill said, while encouraging, the letter was not a factor in his own proposal.

“I would be doing this exact same thing even if this letter didn’t exist,” Gill said.
Gill said he collected over 500 signatures from students who also wish to see the policy repealed. Gill said endorsement from the Student Assembly wouldn’t be just endorsing Pride, but the student body as a whole.

Some controversy arose when members of the Assembly asked Gill why he targeted the American Red Cross during the Bad Blood Boycott when the FDA was responsible for the policy. Gill said the boycott was to educate the student body, but the real target of the letter would be the FDA.

Student Assembly Chair Christopher Cole made the suggestion that the Assembly might choose to table the discussion to possibly open a student forum on the topic. Junior Class Vice President Brendon McCarthy was one of two members who motioned to table the discussion.

“In the past, we had a discussion on selling tobacco products on campus and we felt we just didn’t have enough information,” McCarthy said. “So we held an open discussion for the whole campus. I just feel if we did that in the past, we should continue to do it.”
The final motion was for Student Body President Donnie Clemmenson to draft a letter to the FDA endorsing a repeal of the current policy. The motion was voted against by three members.

Brian Anderson can be contacted at banderson@keeneequinox.com.