Today, GLAAD and Gay Men’s Health Crisis launched a new PSA and social media campaign featuring Alan Cumming aimed at raising awareness about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s blood donor deferral policy for men who have sex with men.
Created pro-bono by Saatchi & Saatchi NY and Bullitt, the petition campaign, hashtagged #CelibacyChallenge, urges the FDA to alter its blood donor policy so that it focuses less on gay men and more on everyone’s potential risk to transmit HIV into the blood supply.
The campaign, entitled Celibacy Challenge, includes a video in which Cumming suggests several humorous and innuendo-laden activities gay men can do to distract themselves from having sex for a year. Why a year? That’s because the FDA just changed its policy from outright banning gay and bi-sexual men from ever giving blood to requiring them to go a year without sex before doing so.
Viewers, asked to sign a petition on the campaign site, are also asked to share the video through social media using the hashtag #CelibacyChallenge
The campaign site also includes “stickers” people can post to Facebook, Twitter or simply download for other uses.
Of the effort, GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said:
“Stereotypes have no place in saving lives. The FDA’s proposed change still means that countless gay and bisexual men will be turned away from blood banks simply because of who they are. GLAAD is proud to stand alongside GMHC and Saatchi & Saatchi NY to shed light on this important issue.”
The campaign is being promoted on the GLAAD Facebook and Twitter pages:
.@Alancumming stars in hilarious @glaad and @GMHC #CelibacyChallenge campaign http://t.co/ed2r8XdLep http://t.co/l6utSYHFLi — GLAAD (@glaad) February 19, 2015
Ironically, as someone who was born and raised in Britain, Cumming has an additional obstacle to giving blood in the U.S.. The FDA recommends deferring donors who have spent six months or more cumulatively in the United Kingdom from 1980 through 1996 — because of the risk of spreading Creutzfeldt-Jacob, aka “mad cow” disease.
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