Alan Cumming Touts ‘Celibacy’ While Mocking New FDA Blood Donor Policy [Video]

Actor Alan Cumming and GLAAD have put together a public service announcement (PSA) regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new policy on blood donations by gay and bisexual male donors.

Alan states in the opening, “if you’re gay and want to save lives, the FDA will let you.” There is just one catch. The gay donor must be abstinent for at least a year. Cumming goes on to narrate a hilarious montage of sexually suggestive activities that can be done in place of sex to maintain celibacy.

While Alan is obviously mocking the FDA with his call for homosexual and bisexual men to refrain from sexual activity for a year, his message does ask viewers to take the policy seriously when, at the end of the PSA, he encourages people to sign GLAAD’s petition removing sexual preference from its screening form.

See it here. (Warning: Video contains mature content. Viewer discretion is advised)

Previously, the FDA had banned gay and bisexual men for life from donating blood and organs due to the risk of HIV.

According to Yahoo! News, an FDA questionnaire asks if a potential donor had sexual relations with a male from 1977 to the present. If a male answered “yes” to that question, they would be banned for life. That policy has been in place since 1983.

Earlier in December, the FDA met to discuss the possibility of modifying the ban to allow donors who haven’t had homosexual relations in the past year.

U.S. government statistics estimate that in 2010, approximately 78 percent of males newly diagnosed as HIV positive were either gay or bisexual, and gay and bisexual males account for 54 percent of all U.S. citizens living with HIV. It’s a curious rule, however, considering that all donated blood is rigorously tested for multiple infectious diseases including not only HIV but syphilis, the various forms of hepatitis, and more.

Though many things can result in a twelve month blood donation ban, such as getting a tattoo or having been diagnosed and treated for gonorrhea, only a handful of other reasons besides being a sexually active gay male can get you banned for life, such as sickle cell disease or tuberculosis.

And while this may seem like a step in the right direction to help blood donation clinics stock up their supplies that often reach dangerously low levels, the new policy isn’t a good enough change, according to many in the LGBT community, including Alan Cumming.

As a bisexual male, Alan Cumming has long been a vocal supporter of equality, stating in a recent interview, “Until all the laws are equal, we can’t blame people for being prejudiced if the law of the land does not fight that prejudice.” Alan will also be honored this year in the upcoming GLAAD Media Awards.

Besides his recent turn as a PSA spokesperson, Cumming can be seen now until March on Broadway starring in Cabaret.

[Image courtesy of GLAAD]