That's what I'm wondering, and what I intend to find out. I posted this to see if anyone had been given a reason as to why trans folks can't give blood, so that I could be prepared to counter it.
Just being trans is not a reason to deny you the opportunity to give blood.
However, you can't donate blood if you've ever had sex with a gay male. Its the FDA's rule, not the Red Cross' rule, and the RC must follow that rule in order to continue supplying blood anywhere the FDA covers. They have tried to change the rule to no avail.
Your screener should have given you a long list of questions to go through before you gave blood and a lot of those questions have to do with drugs you might have taken (even drugs like accutane), which countries you have lived in and visited, and even if you had sex with someone from a certain country or from Africa.
If you answered in the positive to any of the above questions, you might have been turned down for that reason. But if they specifically said it was because you're transgendered, then they are wrong in what they said and you should bring it up with their supervisor.
If he answered yes to any of those, he wouldn't have been able to donate at all that day. My ex worked as an escort years ago, but when I admitted to "having sex with someone who has had sex for drugs or money," I was booted out the door.
Oh yeah, if he answered yes to any of the questions they asked, he couldn't donate probably ever. It depends on the question. Like, if you had a tattoo in a state that isn't regulated, you can't give blood for a year since the tattoo, but after a year you're welcome to do so. Or taken accutaine.
But if you've had sex with a gay male ever, you can't give blood ever. And if you've had sex with someone from Africa, you can't give blood. And if you've done illegal IV drugs, you can't give blood.
The FDA has strict rules and I know a lot of it is stupid, but its just how the RC has to function to be able to give people any blood at all.
Sorry, guess I wasn't too clear. I meant he obviously didn't answer yes to any of the issues you mentioned, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to donate at all. No issue of "a phone call and a letter a few days later." So the issue probably isn't any of the "sex with a man/sex for drugs/tattoo" things.
I give blood two or three times a year, and have been on T since 2005. Nobody's ever said anything to me about it. Weird. I'm curious to hear what you find out. Maybe they're confused because now they think you'll be checking the "had sex with another man since 1977" item? that doesn't make sense.
Nope, you can still give blood if you inject drugs as long as the drugs aren't on the list of 'no-no' drugs. Like, if you're diabetic and you inject insulin, you can still give blood.
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Just being trans is not a reason to deny you the opportunity to give blood.
However, you can't donate blood if you've ever had sex with a gay male. Its the FDA's rule, not the Red Cross' rule, and the RC must follow that rule in order to continue supplying blood anywhere the FDA covers. They have tried to change the rule to no avail.
Your screener should have given you a long list of questions to go through before you gave blood and a lot of those questions have to do with drugs you might have taken (even drugs like accutane), which countries you have lived in and visited, and even if you had sex with someone from a certain country or from Africa.
If you answered in the positive to any of the above questions, you might have been turned down for that reason. But if they specifically said it was because you're transgendered, then they are wrong in what they said and you should bring it up with their supervisor.
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But if you've had sex with a gay male ever, you can't give blood ever. And if you've had sex with someone from Africa, you can't give blood. And if you've done illegal IV drugs, you can't give blood.
The FDA has strict rules and I know a lot of it is stupid, but its just how the RC has to function to be able to give people any blood at all.
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