In the wake of the tragedy at the Pulse nightclub, where 49 innocent people were senselessly gunned down for being part of the LGBT community, the hurt is nowhere near over. While dozens of people were rushed to nearby hospitals suffering from nearly fatal gunshot wounds and blood loss, there was a desperate need for blood in the area. Some people had lost so much of it and the hospitals were quickly running low on their supply. As the world stood still, as it absorbed the shock of what was happening, the LGBT community continued to hurt even further because gay men have a one year deferment period for donating blood. They were forced to stand idly by as members of their community nearly bled to death, and there was nothing they could do to help.

Love is love, marriage is marriage and blood is blood. On the Red Cross’s blood donation form, there used to be one question that read: "From 1977 to the present, have you had sexual contact with another male, even once?" If you were a gay male at that time and you answered the question truthfully, you were banned for life from donating blood. 1977 was around the time HIV/AIDS began terrorizing the country, and back then it was believed to be a “gay disease.” Of course, now that it’s 2016, it could be assumed that this ridiculous question would’ve been removed from the blood donor form. It has not. Instead, as of 2014, the question now reads: “Defer for 12 months from the most recent contact a man who has had sex with another man during the past 12 months.”

Not only are gay males forbidden from donating blood for a year after their last sexual encounter, but they’re classified as one of the highest-risk blood donors - right up there with IV drug users, a man who’s paid for sex with a prostitute and anybody who’s spent more than five years in a country with mad cow disease. To put this in perspective, a man or woman who’s been treated for chlamydia, gonorrhea and genital warts in the past year is an eligible donor, whereas a man who loves another man is not. People are even eligible to donate blood immediately after they get a piercing or tattoo; but having sex with the person of your choice? No way, pal. Don’t even think about it. You absolutely cannot donate your gay blood to those whose lives depend on it. Some countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway still haven’t even lifted their lifetime ban policy. Thankfully, however, many countries such as Italy, Canada and Japan are removing this ban from their blood donation policies because they understand it’s more important to save lives than it is to assume all gay men carry HIV.

After the tragedy at Pulse nightclub, it was falsely reported that OneBlood, a blood center in Orlando, was temporarily lifting the ban and allowing sexually active gay males to donate their blood. It was later made clear that the report was not true; all FDA guidelines still apply, and OneBlood’s guidelines still hadn’t even been updated to the one-year deferment. According to the written policies they’ve got, being a sexually active gay male earns you a lifetime ban from donating blood. It has been two and a half years since the FDA guidelines have been changed from a lifetime ban to a one year deferral, and yet this blood center, along with countless others, still haven’t updated their policies.

Nobody should be punished for who they love. Nobody should be told they are not eligible to help those they love, and the members of their community, because of their sexual orientation. This is very much a life or death situation every day. In 1980, there was such a severe blood shortage that blood banks could only deliver 36,000 units of blood to hospitals that were in dire need of at least 80,000 units. Blood shortages are a big, big deal. They still happen, and they happen most frequently around the holiday season. Imagine if you had a loved one in the hospital who was in desperate need of blood, and the hospital told you there simply wasn’t enough? Wouldn’t it enrage you to know that at least 4 percent of America’s entire population were ineligible of donating the blood you’re in need of, just because they slept with another male in the past 12 months?

Think of it this way: it’s legal to buy and own an assault rifle when you’re on the government’s terrorism watch list, but it’s illegal to donate blood in order to save lives if you’re a male who sleeps with other males. America.