Imagine if you had the power to help save over a million lives a year, but the government was like, “nah, better not. Too gay.”
That’s what’s been going on for over thirty years, ever since the FDA banned blood and organ donations from men who have sex with men. Some other countries have lifted or reduced their bans with no negative results — so, what’s going on in the US?
Back in the 80s, when the ban was created, it was a best-guess effort to keep blood donations safe since there hadn’t been much research yet. We’ve learned a lot since then, so does the science support keeping the ban in place?
Well, no, of course not. But thanks to Trump appointee Tom Price, the ban could stay in place for many more years to come — with devastating impact on potentially millions of lives. Watch below for the full story, and prepare to be outraged:
How about we take this to the next level?
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ErikO
I have gay men as friends who agree that gay and bisexual men should be banned from giving blood as a lot of gay and bisexual men are HIV+ and have Hepatitis C.
Christopher
Is anyone truly surprised by this? Science will always take a backseat to Republican politics. So, addressing the urgent Global Climate problem, expanding stem cell funding/research, and any other medical or scientific discovery needing government approval will likely be put on the back burner for at least the next four years. Because Republicans, for the most part, lack the necessary compassionate intelligence, that is exhibited by most elementary school children, to make the right decisions on these and other potentially life-saving issues in a fair and objective manner. Voting for the wrong candidates or not voting at all has serious and sometimes unexpected outcomes. Get used to it because the real shit hasn’t even begun yet.
Christopher
@ErikO: Then you should get some friends who are educated. HIV and Hep C are not exclusive to the gay and bisexual communities. There are also simple testing procedures to screen any blood that is donated. So, I nominate you and your stupid friends to tell the family of someone involved in a vehicular accident that their father lost his life on the operating table because he couldn’t get the necessary blood transfusions due to a critical shortage in the reserve blood supply. I am sure they’ll understand why you and other people with their heads in their asses think that the FDA ban should continue because it’s much better this way.
stadacona
The fact remains that gay men in Western countries have blood borne infections such as HIV and syphilis at rates hundreds of times greater than straight men.
ErikOisJustaTroll
@eriko is just a poor sad troll trying to spread his message of hate to the world. He doesn’t know any gay men who believe that. How sad it is that gay men still can’t donate, thank you Queerty for bringing this issue back to the forefront. I think it’s a fact that is not well known in general. You typically have to dig pretty deep to find the fine print in a blood drive pamphlet to find this – but it’s there.
cleancut123
@Christopher it is not that simple. it is a risk-benefot analysis that has been done and the risk is higher than the benefit. I hate Trump as much as the next guy here, but lets be real and not hide behind our fingers here. As a general population we (gay, bi men) are way more promiscuous than the general population. A huge number of gay guys do not engage in dafe sex or completely safe sex. This is not a thing against gay people, it is a practical consideration given the facts. There is a good reason lesbians are allowed to give blood but gay,bi men are not.
ErikOisJustaTroll
Well i certainly hope they are testing the blood no matter who donates it. The fact is we are all biologically capable of having an STI.
ErikOisJustaTroll
Since it’s all based on the honor system anyway doesn’t it make more sense to just ban people who have blood borne infections, instead of singling out populations based on their sexual preference. Or just ban slutty people in general?
Alistair Wiseman
@Christopher:
“Science will always take a backseat to Republican politics.”
Well, apparently it takes a “backseat” to Democratic politics as well considering who has been in office the last 8 years.
It appears Democrats also lack “the necessary compassionate intelligence”.
ChrisK
@Alistair Wiseman: Jesus Christ. You’re a broken record. Democrat this Democrat that.
ChrisK
@ErikOisJustaTroll: I 100% agree and I love your name.
Brian
What did the Obama administration do about the ban on blood donations? Zip, nada, zilch. Hillary also failed in this regard. 8 years in power and nothing was done.
The real reason the ban on blood donations remains is that women don’t want their husbands being infected with the homosexual gene. Women are very homophobic by nature – this is particularly evident in the idea of conversion, as in converting their men to homosexual desires.
The finger of blame should be pointed at women, then men.
Brian
@ErikOisJustaTroll: Good point. However, the FDA has basically decided to use male homosexuality as a scapegoat/poster child issue to reinforce the idea that it is a “responsible organization that cares about the blood supply”.
The FDA is teeming with bigots in my view. It is scapegoating male homosexuality to enhance its own image.
winemaker
BRIAN, YOU’RE A REAL UNINFORMED IDIOT, YEAH, YOU ARE. JUST WHAT PLANET DO YOU LIVE ON? THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS THE ‘HOMOSEXUAL GENE’. WHAT A LOAD OF PURE BULLSHIT. PURE AND SIMPLE, I’M NOT GOING TO WAST ANY MORE TIME THAN THE 5 SECONDS IT TOOK TO POST THIS REPLY.
winemaker
winemaker
BRIAN, YOU’RE A REAL UNINFORMED IDIOT, YEAH, YOU ARE. JUST WHAT PLANET DO YOU LIVE ON? THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS THE ‘HOMOSEXUAL GENE’. WHAT A LOAD OF PURE BULLSHIT. PURE AND SIMPLE, I’M NOT GOING TO WASTE ANY MORE TIME THAN THE 5 SECONDS IT TOOK TO POST THIS REPLY. BTW: ANYONE AND MANY HAVE STD’S AND DON’T KNOW IT, ALONG WITH HEPATITIS AND HIV. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND GET WITH THE PROGRAM FOR A CHANGE.
Brian
The FDA should be consistent.
The FDA has, for 30 years, singled out male homosexuality as automatic disqualification re blood donation. Not female homosexuality, not heterosexuality…just male homosexuality. You can be the healthiest male homosexual but the FDA automatically disqualifies you.
A sleazy lesbian is not automatically disqualified, a sleazy breeder is not automatically disqualified…only a male homosexual, even if in perfect good health.
Fu@k the FDA, fu@k breeders, fu@k lesbians…they are guilty of tolerating anti-male homophobia.
rubberbear
Anti-gay Christians are always behind stopping and oppressing LGBT people.
PT
Number 642,843 on our problems list.
DMRX
@Brian: “What did the Obama administration do about the ban on blood donations? Zip, nada, zilch. Hillary also failed in this regard. 8 years in power and nothing was done.”
If you bothered to actually follow this issue (or even watch the attached video), you’d know that it was during Obama’s term that the rules were drastically changed.
And if you had half a brain, you’d know that Hillary had absolutely no control over or input with the FDA as Secretary of State. You’d also know that she has not been in that position for Obama’s entire term.
I know you’re just a troll, but sometimes I can’t help but feed you.
GayEGO
@ErikOisJustaTroll: That is the real concern, blood must be tested for these infections.
cleancut123
@Brian
Yes a super promiscuous breeder or lesbian is not disqualified, simply because as an entire population breeders and lesbians are way less promiscuous and have a significantly lower risk of being infected. The FDA cannot go around ensuring what each individual person is doing in their sex life. They can only go off of general population statistics.
Brian
@cleancut123: General population statistics are flawed because they rely on self-identification, which, in the case of the gay identity, hugely distort any conclusion that is drawn about male-male sexuality.
I’m happy with the FDA simply saying that anal sex practitioners – REGARDLESS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION – cannot give blood. At the moment, the FDA is targeting and demonizing male-male anal sex only.
Unless it stops demonizing and targeting male-male sex for special treatment, the FDA needs to buzz off or get lost.
Captain Obvious
That’s fine. I’ll just keep all of my premium blood to myself. You lose, phobes.