It’s not often that I have to say no to a request for The Center and its members to participate in local civic and volunteer opportunities.

For example, we have said yes to serving as a polling place. We’ve said yes to helping with neighborhood clean-ups. We’ve said yes to other organizations that needed a temporary home when fire destroyed their facilities.

I believe The Center is a good civic partner and an active participant in the city we all love so much, as are so many of our members. But recently, when the call went out seeking donations to stem the current blood-shortage crisis in our area, rather than just saying, “Yes, of course, we’ll help,” I had to think about it.

I had to think about it because the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still prohibits blood banks from accepting donations from gay and bisexual men. While I could have issued a call for Center members to go donate blood, I know that half the people we serve would be banned from this type of community service.

Our nation’s leading blood-services organizations agree that there is no scientific or medical basis for treating gay and bisexual men differently than other potential blood donors. They know what we do – that anyone can be vulnerable to blood-borne infections. In fact, the American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks and America’s Blood Centers have all testified before the FDA to recommend that the ban be dropped.

I’m sure we can all agree that we need an adequate, stable and safe national blood supply. Modern screening and testing helps keep our blood supply safe, but it is only through donations that it can be kept adequate and stable.

From a public-health perspective, the real threat seems to be closing the door on countless numbers of potential donors. (Reminds me of another situation in which our country calls on those willing to serve, but excludes some – often those with specific skills and talents that are so desperately needed – based on their sexual orientation, rather than their abilities.)

It’s not enough to temporarily lift discriminatory bans just to survive a short-term crisis. We have these types of shortages, in part, because of exclusionary policies. It seems to be a simple equation – to increase the blood supply; you can’t continue to irrationally limit the pool of potential donors.

If you think this one issue doesn’t matter that much in our overall quest for equality, think about how this basic concept transcends issues. In times of military crisis, stop-loss orders are issued, allowing LGBT people to serve, the very same LGBT people who would otherwise be discharged in a time of peace. While our nation’s foster care system continues to be overwhelmed, some legislators seek to further reduce the pools of qualified foster parents by prohibiting LGBT people from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

If we’re good enough in crisis – and we are – we’re good enough. Period.