FDA says safety; Gay community says discrimination
Even with the need for donors growing every day, blood banks do not allow for “high-risk” individuals to donate, including homosexual males. The Food and Drug Administration calls the policy a safety issue. Many others call it discrimination.
Potential donors must fill out a questionnaire, which asks people about their sexual history with gay males. If a person answers “yes” to any sexual contact with a gay man, that person is banned for life from donating and placed on a ban list with prostitutes and intravenous drug users.
Prentiss Wheatley, a resident of the Monroe area, said he applied to become a donor but was denied.
“I remember when I used to try to donate and they would ask on the application if the donor is a male that has had sex with another male,” Wheatley said. “I checked ‘yes’ and I was denied.”
Many gay men don’t know they can’t help save lives, even though the vast majority is healthy.
“I felt hurt, because I was discriminated against,” said Blake Hagan, a ULM student who was denied by LifeShare because he is gay.
According to Director of Development of LifeShare Blood Centers Daphne Terral, LifeShare and other blood banks don’t see the FDA’s policy as discrimination. They view it is a “safety precaution” because of the increased HIV/AIDS rate found in the gay community.
“If we allow homosexual males to be blood donors, we would be allowing ourselves to break the law, which will result in us losing our license,” Terral said.
But laws can change. All blood is screened before use, so many wonder why gay men are stereotypically excluded.
AJ Jourdan is a lesbian and does not agree with not allowing gay men to donate blood and thinks there are ways to protect the rights of gay men as well as the health of the community.
“I feel that a gay man should be able to provide papers stating that they do not have HIV/AIDS,” Jourdan said. “If they can provide that medical record, it should allow them to donate blood because at the end of the day, there is someone that would need their clean blood in order to survive.”
