 "Photo: JESS KEMP, VOLANTE, 2010")
 "Photo: JESS KEMP, VOLANTE, 2010")
Like most people, USD alumnus Scott Erickson believes blood donation is a worthwhile cause. He is a healthy adult who practices safe sex, but he is prohibited from donating blood because he is a homosexual, he says.
“I haven’t tried donating because I knew about the ban,” Erickson said.
Homosexual men are permanently banned from donating blood because of the higher likelihood of carrying HIV/AIDS. The Food and Drug Administration adopted this policy in 1983 in an effort to reduce the risk of transmitting the disease via blood transfusion.
The Red Cross publicly denounced this ban, calling it “medically and scientifically unwarranted” because all donated blood undergoes testing for HIV/AIDS in 2007, but the FDA maintains their stance because they claim that the testing does not guarantee detecting HIV/AIDS.
Senior Elisabeth Giles, a Red Cross employee, works on public education about HIV/AIDS. She talks about the safety measures taken to avoid their transmission via transfusion, including the testing done on all blood donations. Given the precautions taken to ensure safe blood, the ban is inappropriate, she said.
“To turn away a huge population that wants to donate blood based on their orientation or sexual history is stupid,” Giles said.
Heather Marreel, Siouxland Community Blood Bank director of recruitment, said 37 percent of the national population is eligible to donate, and of that 37 percent, only 5 percent donate.
“You only have a very small percent willing to roll up their sleeves and donate,” Marreel said.
Marreel said she wants the FDA to take a look at the policy because it would mean more donors.
“Whenever there’s a chance to increase those numbers, centers want that,” Mareel said.
The blood drives at USD are a joint operation between Siouxland Community Blood Bank and the Sioux Falls Community Blood Bank. These blood banks reported that USD donated 628 units of blood during the 2008-2009 school year.
Rita Nelson, Sioux Falls Community Blood Bank donor recruitment representative, also urged people to donate to increase the numbers, but she said she was indifferent to the policy. Nelson said it is just another regulation she must follow from the FDA.
“There’s no prejudice, it is just something we can’t change,” said Nelson.
Nelson said the commitment to the FDA regulations is reflective of their commitment to safety because the blood bank’s main concern is saving lives.
Freshman and vice-president of USD’s 10% Society Calli Oberembt said homosexual men practicing safe sex are less likely to transmit HIV/AIDS than a heterosexual couple having unprotected sex.
“I’ve always thought that this (policy) was a ridiculous stance,” Oberembt says.
Oberembt said the policy is outdated because the scientific community has more knowledge of HIV/AIDS now compared to when the policy was instituted. She said the policy is “absolutely prejudiced” and ignorant on the part of the healthcare community.
Scot Dobbs, freshman and treasurer of the 10% Society, said blood donation should not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.
“Not every gay man in the world has AIDS, and it is hugely unfair to assume someone has AIDS,” Dobbs said.
Freshman John Mathews did not know such a ban was in place. He said he understood where the FDA was coming from when they created the policy, but now it is known that HIV/AIDS isn’t restricted to the homosexual community.
“For this ban to make sense it would have to be a ban of all sexually-active people and even then, there is a chance of failure,” Mathews said. “We have to get out of the homophobic Stone Age and realize homosexuals exist and have always existed.”
David Midyette, 10% Percent Society faculty advisor, said it was originally thought that HIV/AIDS originated in and was restricted to the gay and lesbian community, but researchers have since learned that the disease is spread throughout the world. He points out that in 2006, the Centers for Disease Control listed African Americans as the demographic with the most HIV/AIDS cases. He said that as a whole, these numbers have remained steady, but the FDA would never ban African Americans from donating blood.
“There is no reason to isolate a group of people based on social hysteria,” Midyette said.
Midyette said donating blood is still a great cause, but the policy reflects society’s intolerance to the gay and lesbian community.
“For me, most of this is based around religious bigotry and hatred,” Midyette said.
He said that the policy is “horribly discriminating” because heterosexual people have unprotected sex, and even with sexually transmitted diseases, they are allowed to donate blood.
In 2008, San Jose State University announced that they would no longer sponsor blood drives on campus because the FDA policy violated the school’s non-discrimination policy regarding sexual orientation. Universities across the country have considered taking similar actions.
University of California- Berkeley realized this potential effect when considering how to send a message to the FDA. Jeff Manassero organized a “Sponsor Blood Drive” where ineligible donors sought sponsors to donate in their name. The school felt this was an appropriate response that would bring light to the policy without appearing antagonistic by cutting off a critical supply of blood.
Political science professor Bill Anderson said the policy would most likely come down with a general social policy reform considering the civil liberties pertaining to sexual orientation. Science broke down the idea associating only homosexuals with HIV/AIDS, so now the rationale behind the policy is dated, he said.
“Mainstream society will accept homosexuality when mainstream society sees we live life like they do,” said Midyette. “We have the same problems.”
Reach reporter Nolan Goetzinger at Nolan.Goetzinger@usd.edu.
10 comments
I could care less if it was a gay man or not who donated blood, but since I believe that we can blame single African American woman, I will now be prejudice against them everytime I see them walk down the street, I will look away, I will gawk, I will stare and snare and I will make rude racial remarks...because they deserve it right?