The Onion recently released a spoof of a mythical Supreme Court ruling upholding the right to freedom of speech, replete with a fauxto of Ruth Bader Ginsburg flipping a double bird. As with many productions by The Onion, there was a glancing plausibility to the headline, Supreme Court Upholds Freedom Of Speech In Obscenity-Filled Ruling, but the plausibility didn’t last long.
The following apparently is real, but equally as ridiculous, SJSU officials continue to suspend blood drives, citing gay discrimination:
Former SJSU [San Jose State University] President Don Kassing found that the Food and Drug Administration policy that bans gay men from donating blood violates the school’s non-discriminatory laws.
In an online message to the campus on Jan. 29, 2008, he stated there would be a suspension of blood drives on campus.
Men who have had sexual relations with other men continue to be banned from donating blood, according to the FDA’s Web site.
President Jon Whitmore decided to continue the suspension against blood drives, said Pat Lopes Harris, director of media relations at SJSU.
“He reviewed the material and he knew the Academic Senate felt strongly about the blood drive suspension,” Harris said. “He respects the position we had taken.”
Hat tip to Eugene Volokh for highlighting this ruling, and for having the seriousness of mind to discuss the legal and moral implications of confusing a health policy designed to help stop the spread of AIDS with anti-discrimination policies.
It is getting harder and harder to distinguish fiction from reality when it comes to the law and political correctness.
Next thing you know, they’ll ban students from displaying the American flag in American schools due to concern over offending Mexican immigrants celebrating Cinco de Mayo.
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