the pride
ISSUE NUMBER 62, VOLUME 33 | AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 3, 2021 8.20.2021 – 9.3.2021
WWW.THEPRIDELA.COM
LOS ANGELES
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THE LOS ANGELES LGBT NEWSPAPER
Los Angeles LGBT Center Trying To End Blood Donation Discrimination
Pilot study underway funded by FDA By TimoThy michael
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is doing its part to end blood donation discrimation against gay and bisexual men. According to blood donation requirements if a gay or bisexual man wants to donate blood he must refrain from having sex with other men for at least three months prior. In an effort to change the policy, the Center is one of eight LGBT centers nationwide that are each responsible for recruiting 250–300 gay and bi men between 18 to 39 years old for the ADVANCE (Assessing Donor Variability and New Concepts in Eligibility) study funded through a contract with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The pilot study is being launched by three of the nation’s largest blood centers: Vitalant, OneBlood, and the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross website states, “The American Red Cross believes blood donation eligibility should not be determined by methods that are based upon sexual orientation. We are committed to working with partners toward achieving this goal.” In December 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved from a lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood to a deferral of one year for any man who has had sex with another man during the past 12 months. According to the Food and Drug Administration, this pre-screening eliminates up to 90 percent of donors who may be carrying a blood-borne disease.
LGBT Center, see page 5
Matt Damon Admits To Using Anti-Gay Slur But Then Backtracks Actor finds himself in hot water By TimoThy michael Actor Matt Damon has gotten himself into hot water with fans part of the LGBTQ community after admitting that he used an anti-gay slur. While doing some promotion for his latest drama-thriller Stillwater (a film that includes a notable queer character and storyline), the 50-year-old movie star revealed that he got chastised by his 12-year-old daughter during a recent family dinner after he admitted to jokingly using the notorious, anti-gay slur f*gg*t as recently as a few months ago. “The word that my daughter calls the ‘f-slur for a homosexual’ was commonly used when
I was a kid, with a different application,” Damon recalled. “I made a joke, months ago, and got a treatise from my daughter. [Luciana] left the table. I said, ‘Come on, that’s a joke! I say it in the movie Stuck on You!’” “She went to her room and wrote a very long, beautiful treatise on how that word is dangerous. I said, ‘I retire the f-slur!’ I understood,” he added. Now, in the midst of some backlash from media outlets and the global queer community, Damon is now backtracking, offering up a statement to The Hollywood Reporter where he explains that he has personally never used the f-word slur, and that while he did hear the word a lot during his childhood, he considers himself an ally and “stands with the LGBTQ+ community.” “During a recent interview, I recalled a discussion I had with my daughter where I attempted to contextualize for her the progress
that has been made — though by no means completed — since I was growing up in Boston and, as a child, heard the word ‘f*g’ used on the street before I knew what it even referred to,” Damon recalled. “I explained that that word was used constantly and casually and was even a line of dialogue in a movie of mine as recently as 2003; she, in turn, expressed incredulity that there could ever have been a time where that word was used unthinkingly. To my admiration and pride, she was extremely articulate about the extent to which that word would have been painful to someone in the LGBTQ+ community regardless of how culturally normalized it was. I not only agreed with her but thrilled at her passion, values, and desire for social justice.” He continued: “I have never called anyone ‘f****t’ in my personal life and this conversation with my daughter was not a personal awakening. I do not use slurs of
any kind. I have learned that eradicating prejudice requires active movement toward justice rather than finding passive comfort in imagining myself ‘one of the good guys.’ And given that open hostility against the LGBTQ+ community is still not uncommon, I understand why my statement led many to assume the worst. To be as clear as I can be, I stand with the LGBTQ+ community.”