If what I've heard is true, no matter how well a man protected himself, no matter how long he has remained celibate, and no matter how often he is tested, once he passed that one magic date, he is forever disqualified form donating blood. On the other hand, a hetero female who has engaged in considerably more risky acts is permitted.

I think the sentiment is probably well placed, however, the restrictions placed seem to be kind of lopsided and borderline discrimintory. Maybe I'm getting upset over something stupid, but it just seems to me that this practice implies that all gay men are destined to acquire AIDS. Seems kind of unfair to me. But at the same time, I know if I was recieving a blood transfusion, I'd want all possible precautions taken, in the hopes that I wouldnt' get anything. Basically I'm torn.

Please pardon the length/rambling-ness of this post, and note my general confusion the subject. Hope I didn't offend anyone.

I, for one, am glad that the Red Cross asks all those questions, even if they are extremely personal. If I ever end up in the hospital receiving blood, I want it to be safe.

I'd have to check with the donation center to be sure, but I don't think that answering "yes" to one of the questions about sexual or other history will automatically disqualify a person from giving blood. It might, but more likely it means that they'll tag those bags for more careful testing, or maybe for lab use instead of direct transfusion.

"Here's the deal ::shrug:: If you've had sex with another guy since 1977 (which I'm well aware, is before most of you were born) then you're currently not eligible to donate blood. Blood bank volunteers screen out every guy who's had sex with another guy regardless of whether or not he's engaged in safer sex, or whether or not he's been tested for HIV."

I suppose the body piercing/tattooing questions have relevance regarding HIV and hepatitis, and so on, but why is it only "within the past year?" And why don't they ask you if you've ever borrowed your roommate's razor, or your boy/girlfriend's toothbrush?

sigh. Blood transfusions will NEVER be completely safe. Testing is the way to go, not questioning - the questions' answers don't tell you enough, anyway, and some people just plain don't know. :P

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~lemming, Scarleteen Advocate

"Are you a male who has had sex with another male, even once, since 1977?" and

"Are you a female who, in the last 12 months, has had sex with a male who has had sex with another male, even once, since 1977?"

Both of these are automatic deferments, i.e. somebody who answers "yes" cannot give blood.

However, don't blame the Red Cross or whatever organization is running the blood drive. These standards are set by the FDA.

Justified caution or anti-gay discrimination? Hmmm. Seems excessively cautious (to the point of discrimination) to me.

For example, if a man answers that he has had sex with a man in the past year, then they "know" just to discard the blood. I'm sure they've done research on all of this, and it probably saves them money in the long run. That's to say that discarding the blood from those groups is more beneficial than testing it all, and finding that only X% of the blood is useful to them.