Why the hell cant gay people give blood?

Question

ok so my school is holding its annual blood drive next week and i have heard many people say that if you are gay you CAN NOT give blood. well i decided to get in to that a www.blood.com and for sure it was true if you are a man and have had sex with a man after 1977 even just once you are not allowed to give blood! well as far as i know i have not ever had an sdt and i dont plan on it. but my question is why is my blood any different from a straight male! its not like they dont screen the blood before they give it to any body so why if i am clean would they refuse me for my sexual orentation

ok so to all the haters who dont like the fact the i am a fudge packer then you shouldnt but commenting in the LGBT portion of yahoo answers cuase as far as i am concerned if you are straight and all you have to say is negitive thing you your self are prolly gay

Answer 1

well it is like this .. the red cross is steryotyping Gay men.. and they are afraid of AIDS.. and Gay men that are sexualy active are in a High risk group.. (im like you straight men are in just as high a risk group as gay men are) .. like straight men arent going on the DL ... LOL...
Go figure there are just as many straight ppl with Aids and HIV infections as Gay these days.. but in the USA as great as this country is... we are still in the closet about information on HIV and AIDS and we dont want to belive that being straight you can get a "GAY " disease..

WAKE UP AMERICA...
AIDS doesnt dicriminate...
it is an equal opportunity disease..
you have unprotected sex.. you can get it
you share needles .. you can get it..
DUH... I thought we went over all this in the 80's
someday we will get it.. but then George Bush is president and he does think that if he keeps us from getting married then the country will be just fine and the moral agenda will win over and once again America will be the super power it was during the ozy and hariet days...
Whatever.... Hey.. that was the time that EVERYONE was on the DL....

anyway that is my rant for the day...

Answer 2

The HIV virus is transmitted through unsafe sex - irrespective of whether its gay or straight sex. You could have a situation where an individual gay person is much safer than an individual straight person because this particular straight individual happens to be reckless.

Men are biologically promiscuous, and can enjoy sex outside a relationship (unlike most women). In the world of gay men, the woman (gatekeeper to sex) has been removed, and hence gay men have more opportunity for sex than straight men.

However, as a whole - the LGBT community is high risk for STDs. You only have to go into a gay bar/sauna to observe the high percentage of gay men who play Russian Roulette with their sexual health. This combined with the fact that gay men having more sexual partners, naturally makes them a high risk group when compared to straight men.

Unfortunately, this does no justice for the sensible gay male.

However, the blood transfusion service has no way of distinguishing the sensible person from the reckless one.

They do have rules for straight people as well, which normally prohibit receiving blood from straight people who have acted recklessly.

Answer 3

I tried to give blood today (was turned down for a different reason), and I think you're misinterpreting the guidelines. If you've had sex with a man after 1977, you're considered AT RISK for HIV/AIDS. Get an HIV test, and if/when it comes back negative, take the test in to your local blood bank. As long as they have documented proof that you're HIV-free, you should be cleared to donate (unless you fall under another no-donate category, like I did - for me, it was low iron levels).

I'd suggest contacting the Red Cross or your local blood bank as well, so they can clarify the guidelines for donation. For example, I was told I could donate after a certain age. Today, though, I found out I CAN'T donate (when my iron levels get back to normal) until after I've spent 1 year not living with a certain family member, who once had hepatitis B. It's just to ensure safety. Some of the guidelines can be really stupid (the person I lived with, for example, ISN'T a chronic carrier), but they're meant to ensure people - both donors and recipients - are safe.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I remember when the American Red Cross passed this rule. I was so astonished that such well educated people were so bigoted. It is discrimination, however it is their rule. Basically they feel (due to HIV and AIDS epidemics from the 1980's) that we are a high risk group and they shouldn't waste their time and efforts collecting our blood. They also won't take it from drug users and such.

Today they do test all the blood, and the likely hood of someone not knowing there are positive in the gay community is low. Most of us are responsible enough to get tested and know our status. Yet the discrimination occurs.

However, what can one do about this. Nothing that I know right now.

Answer 5

yes they do screen it also when you give plasma...
i give plasma on a weekly basis and its because if you check the statistics gay men, needle drug users and people from Africa are the highest category with aids... it don't mean that you specific have aids and that they don't like you, but the chances of you getting aids are higher than a straight man...
and as always, the world doesn't revolve are the issues of gay men... there are more important things going on in the world right now than whether or not you can give blood...


In the United States, HIV infection and AIDS have had a tremendous effect on men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM accounted for 70% of all estimated HIV infections among male adults and adolescents in 2004 (based on data from 35 areas with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting*), even though only about 5% to 7% of male adults and adolescents in the United States identify themselves as MSM [1,2]. The number of HIV diagnoses for MSM decreased during the 1980s and 1990s, but recent surveillance data show an increase in HIV diagnoses for this group [3, 4]. This increase points to a continued need for culturally appropriate prevention and education services...

you should really read this.. know your facts before you get all upset with something... stupidity is not an excuse


PS IF YOU WANNA SEND EMAILS WHERE YOU ARE SWEARING AT FOLKS AT LEAST HAVE THE BALLS (HAHAHA I SAID BALLS TO A GAY GUY) TO DO IT WERE PEOPLE CAN SEE....
LIKE THIS: YOU PIMPLE ON THE A$$HOLE OF LIFE IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE ANSWERS... DON'T ASK THE DANG QUESTION DUH ARE YOU GAY AND STUPID OR WHAT??

Answer 6

It's a rule from the early 80s, when gay men were among the first groups diagnosed with AIDS. Also, HIV has an incubation period. A lot of hemophiliacs and transfusion recipients were infected with AIDS because of tainted blood, so they felt the need to do something. I'm not saying it's fair; that's just the reasoning.

Now that there are better screening techniques, I think the rule needs to be rescinded.

Answer 7

That is total discrimination. Blood screening processes check all blood for ALL people for donate blood. They are being ridiculous and they should be challenged and exposed for this.

Answer 8

never heard of this. since they test the blood for hiv and such, it should not be a problem. I cannot donate because I was staioned in Africa and all the anti-malaria drugs we took.

Answer 9

they say that if gays give blood ur most likely to spread AIDS. When actually, studies prove that it is white females who are more at risk for AIDS than anyone else.I've been told I cant give blood. it sucks. i dont see why it matters if your gay, straight, white, brown, purple or green, if ur saving a life, thats all that matters

Answer 10

It's discrimination pure and simple. You're right, if they screen the blood and make sure that it's clean, why wouldn't they allow anyone to donate? They could always use more, there are always more lives to save... why turn away perfectly lovely, healthy blood just because it comes from clean, infection free homosexual veins?

Discrimination.