Before the rant, just a few facts about the need for blood donations:
More than 4.5 million patients need blood transfusions each year in the U.S. and Canada.
Someone needs blood every two seconds.
Only 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood – less than 10 percent do annually.
About 1 in 7 people entering a hospital need blood.
One pint of blood can save up to three lives.
Current FDA rules dictate that any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 cannot donate.
This rule was adopted in the 80s, before the existence of tests capable of identifying HIV-positive blood.
about 219,000 more pints of blood could be available each year if the FDA lifted the ban.
219,000 pints of blood could save 657,000 lives.
(info taken from America's Blood Centers and an article from CNN
)
Under present law, uninfected, healthy gays are unable to donate blood. This is because the HIV epidemic previously infected a large gay community, and gays were the main source and holders of the HIV virus. Not allowing gays to donate blood in the early 1980s was a safe and rational decision, one that I am sure has prevented those in need of blood transfusions from receiving the virus through their transfusions. However, it is not 1983. There are now tests capable of identifying HIV-positive blood, yet, last June gays were again denied the right to save lives and the ban was upheld.
The Red Cross criticized this decision and the policy as "medically and scientifically unwarranted."
Statistics show that the largest portion of people diagnosed and living with an AIDS diagnosis are African American. Statistics from this year also show that the majority of those living with AIDS were infected through male-to-male contact. However, African Americans are eligible to donate blood. Imagine if they weren't? If gays and African Americans both could not donate blood and this right could only be given to an elite group of chosen saviors, many, many people would be unable to get the transfusions they need.
This ban is very clearly prejudiced. I hope that if I am ever in need of a blood transfusion, I will be given the option to accept disease-free, gay blood, rather than die without it.-Besides being flawed in its prejudice, the system is also flawed in other manners. All men are asked, before donating, if they have had sexual contact with another man. What if they lie? What if a closeted gay wants to save 3 lives and is HIV-free? The liars are eligible to give blood. So, if you want to donate, and you're gay, all you have to do is LOOK straight and lie. What a system.
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