"Banned For Life"

I've been trying to think of an idea for an investigative journalism story that I'm working on for a university class. I've been having so much trouble trying to think of something involving a scandal or a question and answer type of story. Something that is newsworthy, but has not been covered widely in the news.

This is almost impossible. Well, it's not. But it's a very hard assignment, especially with seven others on the go. I talked a bit with other students, and researched a few articles and I think I finally came across an investigative worthy topic.

The Boston Marathon took place a few months ago, April to be exact. Bombs went off at the finish line, injuring and killing several runners. The runners who could knew they had to take action quickly and ran to the nearest blood donation clinic or hospital to donate. A man in his 60's who is 100% healthy, can run 25 miles, and has no medical conditions, did not rush with the other runners as he is unable to donate blood.

Why? Simply because he is gay.

This struck me as surprising. I've never really thought about this issue before because I've never really heard about it. I read a little further into it and realized that gay men are prohibited from donating blood because they have a higher risk of getting HIV/Aids.

Okay....we are in the 21st century here. There is a way to be tested for these diseases. So tell me why if someone was disease free and 100% healthy that they could not donate blood?

I'm very invested into this topic, having only been reading it for a few hours. I'm very interested to talk to people who have been turned away or know of people who have been. This project is in its very early stages obviously, but if you know anyone or you yourself have run into this problem please comment or send me a Tweet @janessawirth. I'm very interesting in piecing this story together and your experience would help so much!

As I delve into this story,  I hope to reach an answer.  I would like to find a legitimate answer, and maybe somehow solve this problem many people currently face.