Twitter bans company blood drives until gays can participate

Social network giant Twitter has banned onsite blood drives in its offices worldwide where regulations do not permit blood donations from gay or bisexual men, a move that LGBT-rights advocates say is a first for a public technology company.

The San Francisco-based company made the decision after one of its U.S. employees, a gay man, was turned away from donating blood at the company's headquarters, a spokeswoman said on Monday.

Blood donations from gay men have been barred since the discovery that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, could be transmitted through transfusions.

Currently in the . . .