I'd still be doing it if I were eligible.' 'I shrug my shoulders and say it's too bad. 'Occasionally I see calls on TV for blood donations,' Dassey says. If you are a gay man, and you answer that question truthfully, the result is a lifetime ban. 'From 1977 to the present,' it reads, 'have you had sexual contact with another male, even once?' And he still remembers the day nearly three decades ago when he saw the survey question first appear, the one all potential donors still answer every time they give blood. Like millions of other gay men, Dassey used to give blood a few times a year without a second thought. 'It doesn't even go through my head anymore.' 'I've known for 30 years that I can't donate,' he says. Dassey, a doctor who works for the county's public health department, didn't join them. Many of his fellow runners sprinted to the nearest blood donation centers, fearing the worst.
Last April he competed in Boston for the fourth time and almost made it to the finish - just past the 25-mile mark - when the bombs exploded. At 62, he can still run a sub-four marathon. David Dassey is one of the healthiest men in Los Angeles.
