Iowa Frat Against Banning Gay Blood Donations

Iowa Gay Frat Helps Fight Blood Ban

Iowa State University's gay frat helped spearhead a mini-revolt against the school's blood drive. The school's Greeks typically encourage participation and even organize a Greek Week contest to see which fraternity or sorority can donate the vital fluid. Delta Lambda Phi, however, raised their voices against the ban on gay blood, insisting the Greeks should not compete in the discriminatory drive. Men who sleep with men have been barred from donating blood since 1977.

Of the protest, Delta Lambda Phi's faculty director, Warren Blumenfeld, said:

We've been trying to raise this issue for a long time. The Greek Week council has done something remarkable that we in the community have been trying to do - to raise the issue to the highest level of public discourse. They should be applauded for that.

Not everyone's so pleased - a number of students say that by ending the traditional competition, Greek Week officials are depriving Iowa blood banks of approximately 500 bags of precious plasma.