Straight man rejected from blood bank

An Indiana man is suing a blood bank for operating with broken "gaydar."

Aaron Pace, who says he's straight, claims he was barred from donating blood at Bio-Blood Components in Gary, Ind., after a screener told him he acted like he was gay.

"I was humiliated and embarrassed," Pace, 22, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

"It's not right that homeless people can give blood but homosexuals can't. And I'm not even a homosexual."

Pace visited the center earlier this month, hoping to pocket an easy $40 for a blood and plasma donation.

He suspects the staff member shot him down because he has an effeminate voice and manner.

"She said, 'I'm sorry, but it's the way that you act and appear to be,'" he told ABC News.

Pace said on Tuesday that he plans to sue the bank for sexual-orientation discrimination.

Bio-Blood Components didn't return a call for comment from the Daily News.

The Food and Drug Administration has a nearly 30-year-old policy that bars gay men and women from donating blood.

The policy was created in 1983, sparked by fears that HIV could contaminate the nation's blood supply.

Today, donated blood is tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and other diseases.

Gay rights and health advocates jumped to Pace's defense.

"It is unfair, outrageous and just plain stupid," Curt Ellis, former director of T

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/07/19/2011-07-19_straight_man_suing_blood_bank_said_it_barred_him_from_donating_blood_because_he_.html#ixzz1SaDUTXYK

July 18, 2011 is Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday. A cause for celebration, this is a day to remember and honor the world-changing work of the former President of South Africa, who was a powerful political prisoner and freedom fighter.

In October 2006, I was part of a delegation of artists and activists who visited South Africa at the request of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to celebrate his 75th birthday. We landed in Cape Town and were given a tour of Robben Island by the politician, author and former political prisoner with Mr. Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada. My son, Salvador, opened Mandela's cell with a large metal key, and in small groups, we stood where the wise leader had been imprisoned many of the 27 years he was incarcerated.

I was in awe looking at the thin woolen mat on the floor that he slept on each night for fourteen years before prisoners were given cots, and the small barred window high in the wall through which he viewed free citizens moving to and fro. Mandela writes of being transferred to Robben Island: "I hate being moved from one prison to another. It involves much inconvenience and degrading treatment. One is handcuffed and sometimes even manacled, and often it involves being exposed to prison officials and members of the public at each stop at different prisons en route while one is dressed in the humiliating prison outfit." ('Conversations with Myself').

Prisoners on Robben Island endured relentlessly brutal days, and Mr. Mandela and his comrades worked in a lime quarry in blistering heat and freezing cold, or hammered stones in the courtyard for hours without a break. The light bulbs in their cells were never turned off.

In direct contrast to Mr. Mandela's prison cell, our delegation was graced with a private meeting with the father of South Africa at the Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. In groups of three or four, we sat beside the great leader and he asked us questions about America and our lives. I cherish a photo I have of Mr. Mandela, his head thrown back in laughter, me on his left side, smiling with all my heart.

The beloved South African elders -- Mr. Mandela, Archbishop Tutu, Ahmed Kathrada, Barbara Hogan, and Mama Albertina Sisulu -- have given me powerful examples of creating dreams and goals in life without giving up or surrendering to suffering, and keeping a forward movement in resisting violence and oppression. Their work and words encourage me to keep open the doors of inspiration and strength, and allow no one authority over my heart's vision. In 'Long Walk to Freedom,' Mr. Mandela writes, "...to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

In November 2009, the UN General Assembly formally declared July 18 to be Mandela Day. Nelson Mandela has given 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity and the Mandela Day Campaign in South Africa is reaching out to people worldwide to request that every July 18th, we give 67 minutes of our time to be of service to expand Mr. Mandela's vision. Whether it is supporting a chosen charity or serving in local communities, we are encouraged to make a contribution to the well-being of society.

Ouch

LOS ANGELES - The California woman accused of severing her husband's penis and mutilating it in a garbage disposal was upset about "friends staying at the residence," prosecutors said Wednesday.

Indeed, authorities believe Catherine Kieu was consumed by jealous rage related to one or more females when she allegedly committed the heinous crime, a law enforcement source told the Daily News.

Kieu, a 48-year-old real estate broker, appeared in court Wednesday on charges of felony torture and aggravated mayhem. She faces a maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole if convicted.

The 60-year-old victim earlier told police his wife was angry about their pending divorce.

He denied the existence of a love triangle.

"He's saying there isn't (another woman)," Lt. Jeff Nightengale of the Garden Grove Police Department told the News.

The man, a textiles business owner whose name is being withheld, was in "surprisingly good spirits" following emergency surgery and was listed in "good" condition at UC Irvine Medical Center late Tuesday, Nightengale said.

"Two veteran detectives interviewed him Tuesday and were surprised at his demeanor. They said he was able to answer questions and was in surprisingly good spirits considering everything he's gone through," he said.

Authorities say Kieu drugged her estranged husband's food Monday night to make him sleepy, tied him to the four corners of a bed with nylon ropes, cut off his penis with a 10-inch knife and ran the penis through the kitchen garbage disposal before calling 911.

"The garbage disposal element is going a whole step beyond. That's why we're going with aggravated mayhem instead of just mayhem. The garbage disposal took it to a whole other level," Nightengale said.

Pieces of the penis were recovered and transported to the hospital, but Nightengale said he couldn't comment on whether or not doctors successfully reattached anything.

He said Kieu "spontaneously" said her husband "deserved it" when she met police at the door of the apartment.

The couple married in December 2009 but separated in April and filed for divorce in May. The victim told cops he allowed Kieu to continue living in his apartment because she had nowhere else to go, Nightengale said.

The suspect, who's of Vietnamese descent, is being held without bail. She's scheduled to return to court July 22 for a bail hearing.

The food has been sent to a county testing facility.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/07/13/2011-07-13_california_man_whose_penis_was_allegedly_cut_off_by_wife_catherine_becker_in_goo.html#ixzz1S3kN3xXe

TSA Searches Black Woman's Hair

Like many black women, Laura Adiele quit relaxing and straightening her hair to embrace her natural curls. But her choice had an unintended consequence.
After going through an Advance Imaging x-ray system at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, she was told by Transportation Security Agency personnel that her hair needed to be checked.


"When I first heard her say, 'We're going to have to pat you down,' I thought she was talking about my body," Adiele told The Grio. "I was turning around and putting my arms out and she said, 'no, we're going to have to examine your hair,' and I said, 'no, we're not going to do that today and you're going to have to get security or your supervisor.'"

Adiele said an agent told her was their policy to check anything that "poofs from the body," but Adiele said she was checked while other non-black women with "big hair [and] ponytails" who were not.

"They put the gloves on and now they're really just digging around in my hair and I'm like, arrgg! Why is this happening?" she said.

She has since filed a complaint with the TSA. The agency's regional spokesperson said the TSA takes charges of racial discrimination seriously, but said that he was confident the security officers were just doing their jobs.
In the meantime, Adiele will have to live with this humiliating memory. But did the TSA go too far?

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