Every time the white buses stop in front of the UC, many students give blood for the Blood Battle.

But we wonder why homosexual people can’t give blood.

We’re sure it’s because there’s a huge stereotype that homosexual people are crawling with the HIV virus and AIDS.

Repeat after me: Not all homosexuals have HIV. Not all HIV carriers are homosexual.

We understand that when donating blood, there should be many percautions in place to keep from transmitting tainted blood from one person to another.

But should an entire group of able donors be excluded because of their sexual orientation?

Of course it’s intelligent to see to it that anyone who has shared needles, or engaged in prostitution or any other shady business, does not give blood.

But surely hospitals are not taking donors’ answers to the questionnaire they subject them to as the absolute truth.

We hope that blood is tested for various abnormalities before being transfused into another person.

It wouldn’t be hard for a heterosexual person to lie and say that he or she is not HIV positive.

There are plenty more restrictions that seem to be unwarranted.

We applaud anyone who can sit in a chair and willingly have a needle shoved in the arm for having courage.

Many people who are able to give blood choose not to because of a fear of needles, blood, or anything else.

It’s not hard to give blood. You just sit back in a chair and relax. It hurts only for a second as the needle goes in your arm.

It’s one of the easiest and least physically taxing ways to save a life.