One hundred people ready to donate blood. Permission slip from parents? The number slips down to 75. No drugs? The number slips down to 60. Gay? Eliminated as well.
Since 1977, the FDA has recognized that men who have intercourse with men, or MSM, are at a higher risk for HIV. Since 1992, the FDA classified men who have intercourse with another man, even once, to be unsuitable donors. MSM are not allowed to donate because, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), MSM, as a group, have an increased risk for HIV prevalence (60 times higher than the general population), Hepatitis B and other infections that can be transmitted during transfusion.
Leo Club, a community service organization affiliated with the Lions Club, an international organization that serves the community through many different facets, hosts five seperate blood drives at the school each year.
Junior Natalie Freedman, president of Leo Club, disagrees with the FDA’s policy.
“To me, donating blood isn’t something you do; it is so much more. You are saving a life and taking an hour out of your day. So to turn away someone who wants to save someone’s life, in my opinion is wrong,” Freedman said.
The FDA does not allow MSMs to donate because of the “increased risk of certain transfusion transmissible infections, such as HIV, associated with male-to-male sex. Their reasoning is not based on any judgment concerning the donor’s sexual orientation.”
Blood donors are required to be at least 17 years of age, weigh 110 pounds and be in good health. According to bloodbook.com, donors must not have ever injected themselves with drugs or other substances not prescribed by a physician; have hemophilia or another blood clotting disorder; have a nutrient deficiency such as anemia; born in-, had sex with anyone who lived in-, or received blood products in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon or Niger; or have been in a correction facility for more than 72 hours in the last 12 months.
While these requirements are equally controversial, many people feel that the American Red Cross is being specifically homophobic.
Joyce Brislawn, GSA sponsor, thinks that these ideals of the Red Cross are insensitive to members of the gay society’s feelings.
“I think its archaic and they should treat everybody the same and test the blood,” Brislawn said. “Men, women, homosexual, heterosexual – we should treat everyone the same,” Brislawn said.
“I have never had to turn away a person yet,” Freedman said. “I hope I never will have to.”