Apparently, not only can you be bullied in life, but also in death.

In what is a rather unsurprisingly medieval move, an outdated FDA regulation set the ground for the rejection that shot down the viability for a deceased teen’s organ donation. 

Sheryl Moore, the mother of a victim of suicide, A.J., was distraught to learn that her son’s eye donation was rejected on the grounds that he was gay. Despite this, A.J.’s lungs, liver, kidneys and heart were all donated, the lattermost of which was received by a 14-year-old boy. Moore believes that at least that went well, noting, “He [A.J.] would have really liked that.”

While his other organs were accepted, his eyes were rejected due to a provision set by the FDA during the paramount pinnacle of the AIDS epidemic. If believed to be a risk factor, donors could not give certain tissues.

When asked if her son was sexually active, Moore doubted he even had a boyfriend nor been on a date that she knew of, but due to her not being omnipotent, she could not be certain — she was the mother to a teenager, after all. However, this simply led the donor network to assume that he had been sexually active, and thus disqualified from donating certain parts. Gay men are also banned for life from donating blood, another archaic and nonsensical measure that simply perpetuates discrimination.

Moore hopes that A.J.’s case brings some good, in that it raises awareness and justifies the stances that several national medical organizations have taken, namely how outdated and irrelevant said provisions are.

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