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Giving blood and its associated homophobia

B

Bear

TS Member
People who can:

- Straight men, sexually active or otherwise;
- Women, regardless of orientation, sexually active or otherwise;
- People who get cold sores (herpes);
- Obese people as long as they're in good health;
- People who had Hepatitis A 12 months or more ago.

People who can't:

- IV drug users (anything you can inject);
- Prostitutes
- People with hepatitis C and Syphilis;
- Men who are sexually active with men, or have been in the last 12 months.

So my point here is that straight men and women can have all the sex they like, with whoever they like, and still give blood. However, a gay man in a committed relationship who has only ever had one sexual partner (and his partner too), is not allowed.

Surely everything that is donated is screened for nasties anyway, so why put such tight restrictions on gay/bi men?
 
Bear said:
People who can:

- Straight men, sexually active or otherwise;
- Women, regardless of orientation, sexually active or otherwise;
- People who get cold sores (herpes);
- Obese people as long as they're in good health;
- People who had Hepatitis A 12 months or more ago.

People who can't:

- IV drug users (anything you can inject);
- Prostitutes
- People with hepatitis C and Syphilis;
- Men who are sexually active with men, or have been in the last 12 months.

So my point here is that straight men and women can have all the sex they like, with whoever they like, and still give blood. However, a gay man in a committed relationship who has only ever had one sexual partner (and his partner too), is not allowed.

Surely everything that is donated is screened for nasties anyway, so why put such tight restrictions on gay/bi men?
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The issue they have is that the tests available do not always catch the virus in the very first few days (they are much better) yet the blood can have a viral load able to transmit. Sadly a large percentage of the population with HIV are gay. They are making a judgement call i suppose. I think if they got a cheap test that could say for certain that blood is HIV+ the moment it is then they will loosen up

Personally i think they should loosen up the rules (ie if your in a gay monogamous relationship then you should be seen equal to hetero's in the same situation) but its not a simple situation

On the flip side the risks of blood shortages outweigh the small risk of transmission in my opinion but the Daily Mail would disagree. Though to be brutally fair gay men are massively statistically more likely to transmit HIV and syphilis than straight men (note me a gay-boy)
 
Surely they have to test straight people's blood as well though? Anyone could lie and say they've never done IV drugs or had unprotected sex with a Syphilis sufferer.
 
I can not see why they stop a married civil partnership homosexual male couple from giving blood after a year or two of monogamous relationship.

If the blood service is that bloody worried about a STD they could have a rule that says a homosexual male couple in a monogamous relationship can register via a STD testing unit (this could be the GP Practice) with a clean screening test.

But then again I do think the Blood service policy is written by daily mail readers.
 
Don't worry, it's not homophobic. Gay men CAN give blood... as long as you haven't done the sexy thing, they don't like that!

Annoyingly because I have had a blood transfusion in the past I can't donate anyway
 
What's to stop someone simply lying though? If you really want to give blood that badly, and you know you are infection free... just fib. Or are they going to send the Stazi out to spy on you and make sure everyone who donates is straight?
 
It's the principal though. Sure, I could lie, but it doesn't remove what is institutionalised homophobia. I can 100% prove that I'm clean, but that doesn't allow me to donate because the statistics say I'm a higher risk for being gay
 
What baffles me is the,

Men who are sexually active with men, or have been in the last 12 months
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Does HIV suddenly disappear after 12 months? And its not exactly about being GAY, its about having sex with another man. Not all gay men have penetrative sex, and not all men that have sex (with other men) are gay. no?

As much as a prostitute could lie about her profession, could you not lie about your sexuality?

Well, just realised the two posts below above said pretty much the same thing :-[

Unfortunately we all fall into categories which are discriminating. This is just one of the MANY times where a record goes before them. IE Gay and bisexual men are more severely affected by HIV than any other group. Thats why its a risk for them to give blood. Just like around 41% of all fatally injured car drivers are aged between 16 and 29. That why my insurance was high until I was 25. I have to (& did) accept that. There is a VALID REASON for both, so its not homophobic IMO.
 
HIV isn't something that appears after a day or two. It takes 6 weeks (or more) to actually show in any tests taken.

Quite why it's a year gay men have to wait, I do not know.
 
I would like to see the risk factor level for contracting HIV for a homosexual male couple in a monogamous relationship.
I take a guess that it would be on par with a Hetrosexual couple in a monogamous relationship.

Smudge pointed out the same problem with risk factors in car insurance. there are factors that can drop cost of insurance for younger drivers, 25% for membership of IAM, some even bring it up to 50% off for under 25 IAM observers. Due to the extra training lowering the risks.

Now being in a monogamous relationship with both partners being clear of STDs drop the risks quite a bit.
 
It has nothing to do with supposed homophobia (what is that bullshot expression anyway) its basically statistics.

Most cases of HIV are in gay men, end off, its near as damn impossible for a Heterosexual to catch it unless you guessed it you have a blood transfusion.

The ban should stay until they have a 100% accurate test.
 
ChocolateStarfish said:
Most cases of HIV are in gay men, end off, its near as damn impossible for a Heterosexual to catch it unless you guessed it you have a blood transfusion.
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Africa is in the grip of a HIV epidemic. The continent is well known for its institutionalised homophobia. They aren't all having blood transfusions. I think that's enough evidence to point out how ridiculous that comment is.

Your viewpoint is both wildly incorrect and homophobic. Next time, think before you say something so stupid.
 
So a completely faithful, monogamous gay couple should be banned even if it they both have completely clean tests? I'm pretty sure that's discrimination based on sexual orientation.

This is also the reason I removed myself from the organ donor register. If they can't guarantee that my blood is clean in a longer time frame than organs are viable, how can they be sure my organs are clean?
 
ChocolateStarfish said:
It has nothing to do with supposed homophobia (what is that bullshot expression anyway) its basically statistics.

Most cases of HIV are in gay men, end off, its near as damn impossible for a Heterosexual to catch it unless you guessed it you have a blood transfusion.

The ban should stay until they have a 100% accurate test.
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"Bullshot" expression?

Your argument is so ridiculous it's not even worth scrutiny by the intelligent people who post on here.
 
There should be no problem with anyone giving blood it saves lives at the end the day
 
AshleeKel said:
ChocolateStarfish said:
Most cases of HIV are in gay men, end off, its near as damn impossible for a Heterosexual to catch it unless you guessed it you have a blood transfusion.
Click to expand...

Africa is in the grip of a HIV epidemic. The continent is well known for its institutionalised homophobia. They aren't all having blood transfusions. I think that's enough evidence to point out how ridiculous that comment is.

Your viewpoint is both wildly incorrect and homophobic. Next time, think before you say something so stupid.
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So Africans are going around being unfaithful to one another are they!!! Now who's being stupid.
I suggest you do a bit of reading in the subject before spouting off.

Perhaps you can name a few famous straight people who have died from Aids because I'm stuggling.

The thing is I can almost agree about the long term relationship thing but the risks are too great at the moment.
 
Black people are statistically more likely to have HIV/AIDS because in certain parts of Africa it's utterly rife. Should black people also not be allowed to give blood until they've gone a year without... being black??
 
Also, it's worth bearing in mind that condoms aren't as widely used in Africa as they are in Western countries, so the rate of any STI - including HIV - is likely to be a lot higher.
 
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