let men who have sex with men donate blood
Below is a letter I wrote to Dr. Jerry Holmberg, the Executive Secretary of the Advisory Committee tasked with the FDA's re-evaluation of the ruling that men who have had sex with men (even once) since 1977 may not donate blood. More information here.
I'm straight, male, and have never had sex with a man. I currently donate blood every eight weeks. I've been donating off-and-on since I was first allowed to at age 17, 14 years ago. I've donated through the American Red Cross, through other nonprofit blood centers and through private agencies. I've donated in three US states and later this year will probably donate in Switzerland.
I can understand why rules such as the current MSM restriction were in place in the early 90's. But things are different today. Our blood tests are much better, and more importantly, AIDS has spread so far. It's not a gay issue. Most of those infected don't know, and rates of infection among, e.g., heterosexual women, are known to be much higher than ever previously suspected. Singling out a single, substantial, potential donor population is unnecessary and unhelpful.
The idea of homosexual men donating blood doesn't make me any more afraid of contracting AIDS accidentally. It does, however, make me much less afraid of bleeding out and dying because blood is unavailable when I need it.
So please stop the ridiculous paranoia. Let MSM donate to help keep the blood flowing.
Sincerely,
Joe Blaylock
San Mateo, CA
I'm straight, male, and have never had sex with a man. I currently donate blood every eight weeks. I've been donating off-and-on since I was first allowed to at age 17, 14 years ago. I've donated through the American Red Cross, through other nonprofit blood centers and through private agencies. I've donated in three US states and later this year will probably donate in Switzerland.
I can understand why rules such as the current MSM restriction were in place in the early 90's. But things are different today. Our blood tests are much better, and more importantly, AIDS has spread so far. It's not a gay issue. Most of those infected don't know, and rates of infection among, e.g., heterosexual women, are known to be much higher than ever previously suspected. Singling out a single, substantial, potential donor population is unnecessary and unhelpful.
The idea of homosexual men donating blood doesn't make me any more afraid of contracting AIDS accidentally. It does, however, make me much less afraid of bleeding out and dying because blood is unavailable when I need it.
So please stop the ridiculous paranoia. Let MSM donate to help keep the blood flowing.
Sincerely,
Joe Blaylock
San Mateo, CA