Former Death and Cynic drummer Sean Reinert was not allowed to donate organs after his death, Jan. 24, due to the fact he was a sexually active homosexual, according to a Facebook post written by his husband.

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It appears that the decision was not based just on Reinert's sexual orientation alone, but the fact that he had been sexually active in the last 12 months of his life.

"Sean did not have HIV or any other STDs for that matter," Reinert's husband Tom wrote on the social media site. "But because he was a gay man living in America in 2020, he was not allowed one of his final wishes of donating his organs to help save another person's life. The government would rather let people waiting for a transplant die than give them one of Sean's organs."

Under current law created in response to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, FDA regulations deem ineligible any donation from "men who have had sex with another man in the preceding five years." The law was eventually changed to 12 months.

Reinert formed Cynic in 1987 with Paul Masvidal before both were tapped to join the pioneering death metal outfit Death in 1991, recording the massively influential Human LP — regarded by many as the first technical death metal record.

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If you think this is as fucked up as we do, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking public comment until Sept. 26 regarding proposed revisions to the 2013 PHS Guideline for Reducing Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Through Organ Transplantation.

Give your thoughts at this link here.

Update: Multiple commenters have clarified that there are no laws against homosexuals donating organs such are a heart or a liver, but there are restrictions specifically on blood donations, and eye and tissue donations.

Here's what Reinert's husband Tom said in full: