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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2007)
JUNE 1. 2007 juSt|QUt|l5 Living green saves green! Use your computer to research ways to save energy and money. You will find an excellent resource for information and ideas at www. energytrust. org. • Learn about tax rebates and incentives • Schedule a free Home Energy Review • Take the free Online Home Energy Analyzer • Order a free copy of Green + Solar Building Oregon magazine Safeguard your real estate. Save your planet. E lise C ampbell Service is the key... it s that simple. MULTNOMAH COUNTY ELISE CAMPBELL BROKER, GRl, ABR, ePRO 503-307-1353 Elise@EliseCampbell.com www.EliseCampbell.com Compass Realty, Inc. Tfîfm! Job Hotline: 503-988-5035 TTY: 503-988-5170 an equal opportunity employer Bruner would like to breathe new life into an organization associated with this vintage image. policy was put in place in the '80s by the FDA in response to HIV/AIDS. [Bruner reads the controller' sial screening question that, if men answer in the affirmative, bans them from giving blood] “From 1977 to the present, have you had sexual contact with another male, even once?” 1 think it’s rubbish. Does that policy embarrass me? Yes. Do 1 think it has any basis in science and medicine? No. Do I think it should change? Yes. The blood industry is highly regulated, and the Red Cross or any other blood banks cannot opt not to follow the policy. The back story is the blood banking industry was slow to respond to HIV/AIDS in the early ’80s. They resisted universal testing of the blood supply. They were slow to recognize that HIV was blood borne. And they waited too long before stepping up. As a result of that, hyper-restrictive policies were put into place, and the pendulum swung into the extreme. Fast-forward 30 years, and this policy clearly needs to be struck down. All blood is tested for HIV, of course. But the FDA has declined to change the policy repeatedly. the HIV/AIDS community nationally get all kinds of policies changed at the FDA, at the Centers for Disease Control and at the National Institutes of Health. Grassroots constituents weighing in, writing letters, making phone calls and testifying can result in policy change at the federal level. The other level is for people like me to continue to encourage our national organization to lean heav ily and publicly on the FDA about this issue. 1 think it’s just a matter of time before this policy is reversed. The policy is indefensible. FDA officials come and go. People in power come and go. Can I talk to [Oregon’s U.S. Sens.] Smith and Ron Wyden and all members of the Oregon congressional delegation? You bet. I haven’t had the chance to, but I absolutely will. Part of that is getting them to raise the issue, getting them to bring their pressure. JRC: What else do you want Just Out readers to know? TB: I want Just Out readers to know that even though our hands are tied by this outdated FDA policy, Red Cross blood is saving GLBT people’s JRC: How did the realization that you'd have lives in this state every day. They get that blood. If to enforce a discriminatory policy play into your my partner had acute appendicitis, it would be Red decision of whether to accept this job? Cross blood that would save his life. TB: It was a point of discussion with the search The people we’re training on first aid, lots of committee of the board of directors. 1 said to them: i them are GLBT folks. The lives they will save as “This is a big issue for me. I have to be able to say a result of that training include GLBT lives. The I think it’s a bad policy, so take that into account American Red Cross—this 125-year-old institu in determining whether I’m a gcxxl fit or not. I’m tion—went and hired me to be their CEO, an open going to speak against the policy and encourage the ly gay Buddhist. Obviously, this place practices what national Red Cross to push the FDA to change it.” it preaches about inclusion, dignity and compassion. And they said, “We agree with you.” We kx>k forward to the day when we can [accept bkxxl from gay men], but in the meantime we’re still JRC: How do you plan to change the policy? saving GLBT lives every day. And lesbians can give TB: There are two sources of leverage. I was in bkxxl, so they can give twice as often to make up for their gay boyfriends who can’t. © the HIV/AIDS world for 20 years, and I watched www.multcojobs.org • 12.5 Now taking reservations > from $360k & $415k Only 12.5 exclusive living spaces available. Location: NE Knott St & NE 7th Ave. CONDOS 12andahalf.com/ Responsible. Modern. Living. Designed by award winning firm Holst Architecture, 12.5 maximizes resource and energy efficiency, supports sustainability and recycling, encourages commuting options and offers energy alternatives. 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