- #Why can gay men donate blood one day a year how to
- #Why can gay men donate blood one day a year series
The fear is that those who have had gay sex or IV drug administration are more likely to have HIV and or Hepatitis-which, according to the statistics, is true. Roughly half of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States are gay men, even though gay men only make up four percent of the nation’s population. Others in the category are intravenous drug users and those who have spent more than five years in a country with mad cow disease. I promptly asked if he was giving blood, and he responded, “I can’t,” as if he had been programmed to say that all his life. If you are a gay man and answer that survey question honestly, you are placed in a lifetime ban, unable to donate blood.Īccording to the FDA, gay men are considered in the highest-risk blood-donor category. “From 1977 to the present,” it says, “have you had sexual contact with another male, even once?”Īfter I donated blood at Latin’s blood drive, I discussed my experience-not a very pleasant one, but that’s besides the point-with a very close, openly gay teacher of mine. In 1977, a survey question appeared that today, every donor still has to answer.
#Why can gay men donate blood one day a year series
The exact law in Australia is that we aren’t allowed to donate blood if we’ve had sex with a man in the past year, or had sex with someone we thought could be bisexual.Before donating blood, each donor must complete a survey answering a series of questions. Spain also maintains one of the highest amount of donations in the world. “In those whose behaviour is exclusively heterosexual, safe sex practices are less common… if there was an outbreak of HIV amongst heterosexuals in Australia it would clearly spread more rapidly than it would in the gay community.”Ĭonsidered an expert in HIV/AIDS community development work, Mitchell ran workplace workshops educating about HIV throughout the height of Australian era of ‘AIDS panic’ in the eighties, and has pushed for the safety of same-sex attracted youth in schools.Ĭanada and the United States continue to ban gay-men from blood donation, while Spain does not question individuals on sexual preference, only sexual practice. Noting a recent study which found that the chances of heterosexual HIV transmission may have been underestimated by 300%, Prof Mitchell said. They are not representative of all men who have sex with men,” said Mitchell, speaking to the tribunal. “Many of the samples in studies cited by the Red Cross are very small, recruited from men at high risk, and explicitly exclude men who practise safe sex in monogamous relationships. The ban she said, can be likened to refusing a donor for “being Jewish or Indigenous.”
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The following is an extract from an article found here.Īssociate Professor and Director of Gay & Lesbian Health Victoria, Anne Mitchell spoke in front of the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal yesterday, indicating men should be assessed on what they’ve done, not who they are. It’s an archaic policy back when HIV was a “gay disease”, but the Red Cross refuses to let go of it.
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This rule is a throw back, it remains simply because of homophobia, and it needs to be changed.
#Why can gay men donate blood one day a year how to
However we know now exactly how and why AIDS is transmitted, we know how to test for HIV and we know that AIDS is not limited to any single demographic or small group of demographics. I highly recommend the book “And the Band Played On…” by Randy Shilts.) (BTW, the blood banks knew for awhile but refused to do anything to mitigate the damage being caused.
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That made Americans feel better because it meant it was confined to “those people.” A bit later we learned that because HIV can be passed through blood transfusions, another at risk population was hemophiliacs.
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Does anyone else remember those first articles about the “gay plague” that was originally called Gay Related Immune Deficiency? Back then we were told that the only folks at risk for this teriffying new disease were gay men (not lesbians – just gay men), Haitians and intervenous drug users. When I first read this question, it brought me back to the 80’s.