FDA Blood Ban

I tried to give blood today
And failed
For some reason the blood just wouldn’t flow
Just wouldn’t give in to your needle
I tried to give blood today and failed

You see, I tried to give blood today and failed
Because there are laws inscribed around my veins
There are laws inscribed around my veins
Freaking titanium plates covering my bones
That say they protect me from myself

I am freakin’ wolverine with these laws around my veins
Ch-ching, Ch-ching prepare to be invigorated
You know why I tried to give blood and failed
Because the FDA says it doesn’t want my blood
That’s right
The FDA said no to me today

But you know what, I’m used to it, the FDA, the medical institution, has been saying no to me for 25 years now
No you may not publicize this epidemic
No you may not treat this disease
No you may not have this drug
Or that
Or that
No you may not save lives with drugs that don’t make us a shitload of money
No you may not expand the market
No we don’t give a damn

But for 25 years the FDA has been saying no to me directly
No, Jason Stewart Sierra
We don’t want your blood
We can’t take your blood

They no longer ask me
Psychiatric fitness style
Joe McCarthy style
Police brutality style
Downsizing, landletting, get your ass out of my shop and onto the streets style
What I like to do in bed
But they ask me on a form
They ask me if I sleep with men
If I’ve ever slept with men
And if I say yes
If I mark yes on a form
They deny my donation

You see, I tried to give blood today and failed
Tried to perform a civic duty to America’s more than 5,000 hospitals
Tried to do you a public service cuz you’re scared of needles
And failed
Because the government does not want me to serve you
I tried to be an American citizen, a human citizen today and was told my blood was bad

But my blood is not bad
I don’t have bad blood coursing through these veins
My blood is strong and unadulterated
I know my blood red and blue,
My white count still high, I know what I’ve got and what I haven’t
In fact
Truth be told I’ve probable been tested more than you ever will
I’ve been tested more often than any of my straight friends who are getting more play than a tonka truck
I am getting tested more often than my prostitute friends
Because I live in a culture where we test, where people are unafraid to go to Vaden
Get the test and move on with their lives
Because I use a condom every freakin’ time and don’t think birth control is germicide

But the FDA still says no
Not good enough
Your blood is bad
Don’t care what your record shows
Monogamy or one hook up
Ten years past

Sure we test it anyway
But still, not good enough
Your blood is bad and we refuse to accept it

Let me say it simple
There is bad blood between me and that bloodbank
And its not mine
It’s a history of bad blood that refuses to forgive
Refuses to realize that one in ten in one in ten is all that carries
We are not all carriers of HIV even though your culture tells us we are
We are public, too
With rights, too
Human, too
Citizens, too
And we deserve to exercise our rights
Gay marriage, don’t ask, don’t tell are not the only fronts of our oppression
Even here on campus, at Stanford University in the Bay Area of California
This is not a gay rights speech
This is a human treatment speech
When you call my blood bad without knowledge
Call my blood bad without time
Call my blood bad without asking
You deny my citizenship
Deny my civic duty
Deny my humanity.

I see this blood bank
And am not reminded of my commitment to public service
But of that denial
And the fact that no one knows.
That you didn’t know that
The FDA prohibits all men who have ever had sex with other men from giving blood
Puts bad blood between us, too
The fact that you forgive them for putting it on a form
Nod along silently when they ask you
And don’t speak against an unfair assumption based on cultural sterotypes
Puts bad blood in my veins in your eyes
And bad blood in your gaze
I shouldn’t have to lie, or hide, or pass or cover
To perform my civic duty
And you shouldn’t let this blood pass between us without asking the questions of our common humanity.
Why are they asking?
Why does it matter when they test anyway?
Why does it matter who I sleep with if I’m careful, if I’m tested, if heterosex is carrying too?
Why is no one talking.
Yes, donate blood because we can’t.
Give twice even…once for me.
But don’t let this struggle for equality of rights and responsibilities go unheeded
I shouldn’t have to lie on that form to donate blood
Tell your friends, your congressman, your mother and your grandma that things still aren’t right even here.
Give blood today because we can’t
Give them an earful because our voices are not enough.