FDA Still Says If You Are Gay, You Can’t Donate Blood
Posted in News by Dan at 2:26 pm
This post was published 2 years 5 months 16 days ago and its content may not be valid anymore.I think this was interesting to post, since it has the potential to spark a good debate:
Quoted from The Denver Post:
Gay men remain banned for life from donating blood, the government said Wednesday, leaving in place—for now—a 1983 prohibition meant to prevent the spread of HIV through transfusions.
The Food and Drug Administration reiterated its long-standing policy on its Web site Wednesday, more than a year after the Red Cross and two other blood groups criticized the policy as “medically and scientifically unwarranted.”
[...] Before giving blood, all men are asked if they have had sex, even once, with another man since 1977. Those who say they have are permanently banned from donating.
Thoughts?
Wow, where to begin on that one. I mean, it’s not like it’s only a homosexual illness. Are they also banning anyone who has ever shared a needle or had unprotected sex?
*Correction*
Wow, where to begin on that one. I mean, it’s not like it’s only a homosexual illness. At least they are also banning anyone who has ever shared a needle or had unprotected sex, so they are at least trying hiding behind the guise of thinking of recipients’ well-being. It’s sad that in doing so they are placing Gay men in the same category as IV Drug users and Sex workers. Sad state of affairs.
Yea, I don’t want gay blood, I may catch gayness.
hahaha i dunno why but i find this funny…
im serisouly laughing OH NO IM GONNA CATCH GAY! AHHH pshh lame haha
i mean i can see the … lets not gets aids side of it… but isnt there shit that test for that anyways?? so i guess the only fear is catching gay? hahaha oh man i dont get this one
God Damn It, that one night I had “mimosas in the rain”, will haunt me for a life time.
yeah they now test blood for hepatitis, aids, and some other shit
but they dont test for gay
so yeah
you may catch gayness from donated blood.
watch out. you may have homo blood in your veins.
oh and
red blood cells only live about 120 days so technically after 120 days you would be *cured* of the gay blood.
If it was a matter between life and death and you needed a blood transfusion from someone who was “gay” and you didn’t take it, you would be a fucking idiot.
I guess their mind set on this is that two men having sex are less likely to use protection whereas a male and a female may use protection more often to prevent pregnancy.
Which I can understand but if they are testing for hepatitis and aids and whatever else anyway…
I don’t know.
But what about women? Do they ask women if they’ve had sex with another woman? Or maybe they ask if they’ve had sex with a man that has had sex with another man since 1977.
They can’t donate blood, but they can donate their organs. Sounds like ideologies are getting in the way of rational thought.
Look, the integrity of the blood supply is something that is incredibly important. In a situation in which a patient needs to be transfused, the last thing the physican (and patient) want to have to worry about is if they are going to cause the patient further harm by doing so. While all donated blood is currently screened for HIV, you may be surprised to learn that this test, like all tests, has a failure rate. It is extremely low, but because the total number of transfusions in the United States is so enormous (over 20 million units/year), the reality is that it is possible to contract HIV from blood that has been tested and accepted, and it does happen. The only ways to reduce that chance are to 1) improve the test or 2) reduce the incidence of HIV in the incoming blood. Work on the first option is of course always in progress, but this decision maintains past policy on the 2nd option—men who have had sex with men have HIV rates 200 times higher than other potential donors and constitute the highest risk group, followed by IV drug users and people who have sex for money—these three groups are the “low-hanging fruit” and excluding them as donors greatly lowers the chance of HIV transmission by transfusion.
Hopefully that sheds some light on the situation. I understand that this may seem discriminatory, but this truly is about protecting the blood supply. I assume (and hope) that those of you commenting that this has anything to do with “catching gay” are joking.
@Myke: They don’t ask this of women because the increased rate of transmission is associated with anal-receptive intercourse. While many heterosexual couples also engage in anal intercourse, the fact remains that (for whatever reason) the prevalence of HIV in that group is several orders of magnitude less than in men who have had sex with men.
@Terminal: Well said. I didn’t see anything wrong with this decision. You just explained it a lot better than I could. That last part about the women thing wasn’t meant to be serious.
Those who are gay and disagree with this policy are still donating because there is no test to determine if you are gay. Just say no on the form. Problem solved.
Now there, doesn’t that make everyone feel safer about our precious blood supply? At least Spain and Switzerland welcomes gay donors so that more lives could potentially be saved.
Also, I don’t know many whores who take the time out of their day to donate blood, but god bless them if they try!
When you go to donate blood, regardless of if you’re a man or a woman, they ask you if you’ve had sex with a man (if you’re male) or if you’ve had sex with a man who may have slept with another man. I always find it funny that its “since 1977″. I wonder what they would say if you said, “Oh no, he did that before then, its alright.”
I still am irked that I can’t donate blood because I lived in Europe for 1 month too long when I was 9 months old, and DIDN’T EAT BEEF. I’m 23 now.. oh yes, I for sure have mad cow, and I’m going to infect other people with my blood. It’s stupid.
Aids, I understand is more serious but if you *know* you don’t have it, and they test for it anyway, you should be allowed to donate. Gay men should just be allowed to be tested first, then come back with a certification. Viola, problem solved.
@terminaldigit : thanks for the great explanation.
@all others : if you were asked to accept blood that may be contamined with HIV (with a risk 200 times higher (with gay donors), would YOU accept??? my answer is no. What is so difficult with that to nderstand? This is all about safety. The fact is that if gay, junkies and whores would be able to donate blood the chances of contamination would greatly improve. if you don’t understand that you’re simply stupid.
Gay men a being put in the same category as Drug users a Prostitutes because it a widely accepted myth the gay men can’t can’t be trusted to stay monogamous during the time between the HIV test and the actual blood donation. The fear is that some “homo” get tested, be cleared, but then be unable to keep it in his pants with the same partner before giving blood. It’s stupid and it’s prejudicial. Also, the numbers are higher for gay men then strait men be cause most people getting tested are gay, the strait men don’t think it will happen to them so they don’t get tested. If a person tests clean they should be able to help boost the blood supply. End of story. Everything else is spin.
The fact that they have a genitic disorder, that they are REALLY sick.
I’m gay and I still donate.
I don’t agree with this. If they test your blood for HIV/AIDS it shouldn’t matter. There is a blood shortage and gays wanna give so let them! I’m donating today and I hope some of the homo-haters get my blood and it turns them all into big fairies!