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Tehanu
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 Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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| I had a discussion about the blood donation ban not too long ago with someone who was questioning whether this policy was actually homophobic or in the interest of public safety. And this person is very well-informed on most issues. Still some education to be done, methinks. |
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Legless_Marine
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| Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:39 am Post subject: |
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| Tehanu wrote: | | I had a discussion about the blood donation ban not too long ago with someone who was questioning whether this policy was actually homophobic or in the interest of public safety. And this person is very well-informed on most issues. Still some education to be done, methinks. |
I think RC policies are fairly cautious on all fronts, and that this isn't specifically anti-gay, or necessarily homophobic. I've been disqualified, twice over, on fairly nonsensical grounds - Despite being an overall healthy individual.
Not that I'm really that keen to give blood anyways....
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Tehanu
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| Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:11 am Post subject: |
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Well, L_M, if you read just the first page of this thread you'll see all the arguments as to why Canadian Blood Services (not Red Cross any more) has a policy that puts what could only be described as ludicrously differentiated conditions on men who have had sex with men.
Briefly, if you consider all the ways you can be exposed to HIV (heterosexual intercourse, anal sex, IV drug use, blood transfusions) it is men who have had sex with men ONCE since 1977 who are excluded. And they don't define what sex is.
Here are the actual questions in the danger zone. I've bolded a few of them so you can check out the differences in timelines. 12 months, 12 months, six months, 32 years, ever. What's the difference in terms of risk? You tell me that's not homophobic.
(It's not great about sex workers or Africans, either, to put it mildly.)
It should be the same level ban for all higher-risk groups, and it should be behaviourally based. As in, have you had anal sex without a condom? High risk. Could be straight people or two men. News flash, plenty of gay men practice safer sex, and plenty of gay men do not have anal sex, and plenty of them have not been exposed to HIV ... and/or have been tested long before donating blood.
And plenty of heterosexuals have anal sex and do it without a condom, and don't get tested.
A lifetime ban is ludicrous considering that HIV testing has come a long way since 1977.
| Quote: | 15. Do you have AIDS or have you ever tested positive for HIV/AIDS?
16. Have you used cocaine within the last 12 months?
17. Have you ever taken illegal drugs or illegal steroids with a needle even one time?
18. At any time since 1977, have you taken money or drugs for sex?
19. Male donors: Have you had sex with a man, even one time since 1977?
20. Have you ever taken clotting factor concentrates for a bleeding disorder such as hemophilia?
21. Have you had sex with anyone who has AIDS or has tested positive for HIV or AIDS?
22. Female donors: In the last 12 months, have you had sex with a man who had sex, even one time since 1977 with another man?
23. Have you had sex in the last 12 months with anyone who has ever taken illegal drugs or illegal steroids with a needle?
24. At any time in the last 12 months, have you paid money or drugs for sex?
25. At any time in the last 12 months, have you had sex with anyone who has taken money or drugs for sex?
26. Have you had sex in the last 6 months with anyone who has taken clotting factor concentrates?
27. In the last 12 months, have you had or been treated for syphilis or gonorrhea?
29. In the past 6 months, have you had sex with someone whose sexual background you don’t know?
30. a) Were you born in or have you lived in Africa since 1977?
b) Since 1977, did you receive a blood transfusion or blood product in Africa?
c) Have you had sexual contact with anyone who was born in or lived in Africa since 1977?
28. In the last 12 months, have you received blood or blood products by transfusion for any reason,such as an accident or surgery? |
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Legless_Marine
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| Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:48 am Post subject: |
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| Tehanu wrote: | Well, L_M, if you read just the first page of this thread you'll see all the arguments as to why Canadian Blood Services (not Red Cross any more) has a policy that puts what could only be described as ludicrously differentiated conditions on men who have had sex with men.
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Guilt as charged... and I see what the fuss is now. The exemptions are a little.... specific.
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Tehanu
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| Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Spread the word! |
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Hephaestion
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| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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Sweden to partially lift ban on gay blood donors:
| Quote: | | Sweden will lift its ban on gay blood donors as of March 1, 2010, but will restrict donations to gay men who have not had sex with a man for a year, national health authorities said Tuesday. 'Men who have had sex with men will no longer be permanently barred from donating blood,' the National Board of Health and Welfare said in a statement released on World AIDS Day. |
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Hephaestion
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| Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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Canadian Blood Services lifts ban on gay bone marrow donors; change affects relatively few, activists say; no movement on blood donation
| Quote: | The Canadian Blood Services is now accepting gay men as donors of stem cells and bone marrow. Until October, gay men were automatically ineligible if they'd ever been sexually active.
Bone marrow and stem-cell transplants from non-relatives are uncommon; in 2008, just 250 such operations were performed in Canada. That's because, for the procedure to work, donors and recipients must be near-perfect genetic matches.
CBS collects information about potential donors through a program called One Match (formerly the Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry). In Canada, there are 250,000 people registered with One Match, but there are still over 800 people awaiting transplants.
In 2008, Health Canada released new regulations with respect to cell, tissue and organ donation. Those rules resulted in new restrictions on gay organ donors — but they also triggered a review on the prohibition of gay men's bone marrow and stem cells, says Jennifer Philippe, director of One Match. "Prior to that, we defaulted to the blood regs," says Philippe.
"Before we made the change, we did a lot of consultation, both internally and, as well, we went to many of our advisory groups," she says. "We went to the transplant community and we also went to our lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two-spirited and queer advisory group."
Canadian Blood Services is best known for its blood drives, where a lifetime prohibition on gay donors persists. |
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Hephaestion
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| Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 3:12 pm Post subject: |
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"Gay ban stopped me giving blood to mum"
| Quote: | When student Dij Bentley’s mother Christine was diagnosed with cancer, she desperately needed a transfusion to save her life. Like his brother and many of his mother’s friends and colleagues, Dij wanted to help and offered to donate some of his blood. However, he was told he couldn’t – because he is gay.
Now Dij and a growing number of campaigners and pressure groups are questioning the law banning gay men from donating blood.
Last month, Sweden became the latest country to lift the ban, and pressure on the issue is growing in the UK ahead of a meeting this month of the body that advises the Government on blood safety. The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs will be reviewing the current data on the issue and will report back to the Government next year.
The review is certainly good news, says Dij, who is 21 and a student at Glasgow University, because he would love to be able to give blood. “Anybody who has got a heart would want to help,” he says. “And it’s especially poignant when it’s a member of your own family. You see all these adverts on the telly saying ‘It’s you they’re talking to’. I would love to, but you know what? I can’t – you don’t want my blood.”
[...]
Dij’s mother Christine Davies was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. Christine, who was 47, was being treated at the Western General in Edinburgh and was doing well until she developed an infection that meant she needed a transfusion.
“They asked my uncles, my brother, all of her work colleagues if they would be willing to see if they would be a match and I said ‘can I be tested?’ It might have been that I was the wrong type of blood group, but my brother and uncle were approached. They knew my sexual orientation. I was in a monogamous, stable relationship so it wasn’t as if I was at high risk of HIV.”
Then on August 14 last year, Christine developed an infection on her brain. She died 10 days later. “My eyes have been opened to this since my mum died,” says Dij. “Maybe gay men do have a right to give blood if they want to. Certainly for me, who was in a monogamous relationship, I think it would have been acceptable in these circumstances.”
[...]
The campaign group LGBT Network, which has lobbied the Scottish Parliament on the issue, has pointed out that a man who has unprotected sex with a prostitute or an intravenous drug user can give blood after 12 months. It also notes that in Spain, where the policy was changed in 2003 to allow men who have safe sex to donate, the number of infections from blood transfusions fell.
The Scottish Blood Transfusion Service accepts that the risk of HIV infection from men who have safe sex is small.
Besides, says Dij, risk is part of the system already. “I know someone who had a blood transfusion and contracted hepatitis as a result of it and has liver problems to this day. I know at least 100 people who if they changed the rules would walk into the blood donation centre tomorrow and every six months thereafter. I would do it, too.” |
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Hephaestion
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| Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:08 am Post subject: |
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Gay blood donor case wraps; all sides make closing arguments in trial of gay donor Kyle Freeman
| Quote: | After a 10-week trial in an Ottawa courtroom, the case of Kyle Freeman v Canadian Blood Services (CBS) has closed. The proceedings, which focus on a gay man who lied about his sexuality in order to give blood, have lasted nearly eight years.
During the week of Jan 8, Justice Catherine Aitken heard arguments from six different lawyers, three per side. Because of the complexity of the case, a verdict is not expected until June.
[...]
Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS) has a history of advocating tight restrictions on gay men’s blood. Hemophiliacs were among the hardest hit by the tainted blood scandal; today, CHS plays an active role in shaping Canadian blood policy.
Repeating its longstanding position, spokesperson John Plater says the gay blood donor ban is reasonable.
[...]
"[Gay men are] significantly the highest of all HIV groups. The question doesn’t become at what point do you add groups to the deferral to make things fair. That’s not the issue in this case. The issue in this case is should the MSM deferral be removed? When CBS changes are made, the changes should be made so the system should be as safe or safer than today. If the court’s view is the deferral is discriminatory, then the system should be changed to be as safe or safer. But this could result in longer deferrals where the epidemiology supports it,” says Plater.
In other words, if the rules are found to be discriminatory, CBS could add more groups to the lifetime deferral category, rather than remove gay men from the list.
[...]
Freeman’s case against CBS for discrimination relies on two sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [CBS lawyer Sally] Gomery argues that blood donation falls outside of the Charter’s realm.
“CBS thinks — and the Attorney General thinks — that CBS is not a part of the government. It’s not a Crown corporation. There’s no law that created CBS. It’s not run by the government. It’s a private company. To even make a claim under the Canadian Charter, Mr Freeman has to show CBS is part of the government or controlled by government or doing something which is a government activity,” says Gomery.
[...]
Freeman’s lawyer, Patricia LeFebour, has given a lot of thought to the last of Gomery’s objections.
“CBS was created in 1998 following the recommendation in the Krever Report. CBS was created by a memorandum of understanding which was signed by all provincial/territorial ministers of health. The operation of a blood system is not part of the private sector — it is an entity whose members (like shareholders in a corporation) are the provincial/territorial ministers of health. It is heavily regulated by the federal government and requires prior approval from Health Canada [and] cannot change any of its donor deferral policies,” says LeFebour.
The policies surrounding blood donation affect how Canadians view gay men, says Canadian AIDS Society (CAS) lawyer Doug Elliott.
“CAS has been involved in protecting the blood supply since the Krever inquiry. We reject the position of CBS that you have to create a contest between human rights and blood supply. Experience has taught us the only AIDS strategies that work are ones that respect human rights. The fact that CBS refuses to even consider this tiny change recommended by their own expert demonstrates why they have lost the trust of the gay community. We believe that the current question is harmful because gay people will not cooperate with it,” says Elliott. |
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Hephaestion
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| Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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John Kerry: Gay Men Should Be Allowed To Donate Blood
| Quote: | Kerry's written a thoughtful and convincing piece in Bay Windows about the unscientific and antiquated law that makes it illegal for gay men (well any gay man who has been celibate since 1977) to donate blood. He calls for it's abolishment:
| Quote: | | "But over the past 27 years, times have clearly changed. We know so much more. There is now a greater understanding of the high-risk behaviors associated with HIV contraction which is incorporated into the donor screening process. We’ve made dramatic technological improvements in HIV detection, and we’ve got mandated testing of all donated blood by two separate, highly accurate tests. A law that was once medically justifiable is today simply discrimination that needs to end." |
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Hephaestion
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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FDA To Consider End To Gay Blood Ban
| Quote: | The FDA is beginning the review process to lift the ban on donations from gay men. Chris Johnson at the Washington Blade reports:
| Quote: | | A notice published Thursday states the Department of Health & Human Services has scheduled a meeting next month of the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety & Availability to discuss the issue. The committee is charged with providing recommendations to HHS on blood supply and blood products. The meeting, which is open to the public, is set to take place at the Universities of Shady Grove in Rockville, Md. Discussion is scheduled over the course of two days — from June 10 to June 11. The meetings on both days are set for 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. |
The push to lift the ban gained momentum in March when Sen. John Kerry and 17 other Senators wrote a letter to the FDA denouncing the ban as scientifically unsound. You can expect that anti-gay groups will crowd the above-mentioned public meeting. |
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Hephaestion
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| Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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Lifting of US Gay Blood Donor Ban Would Boost Supply by 219,000 Pints
| Quote: | A new report (PDF) from the Williams Institute concludes that the lifting of the FDA ban on blood donation by gay men would increase the nation's blood supply by more than 200,000 pints a year:
| Quote: | | If the current MSM ban were completely lifted, we estimate that an additional 130,150 men would likely donate 219,200 additional pints of blood each year. If MSM who have not had sexual contact with another man in the past twelve months were permitted to donate, we estimate that 53,269 additional men are likely to donate 89,716 pints each year. If MSM who have not had sexual contact with another man in the past five years were permitted to donate, we estimate that 42,286 additional men would make 71,218 blood donations. |
A lifting of the ban will soon be considered:
| Quote: | | The Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability will consider the issue in meetings June 10 and 11 in Rockville, Maryland. The committee makes recommendations to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA. |
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Tehanu
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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Hearings have started on this at the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States. Presumably after that it heads to the FDA.
| Quote: | The Human Rights Campaign – the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization – submitted comments in advance of today's meeting of the Department of Health and Human Services' Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability calling for an end to the ban on blood donations by men who have sex with men. In addition, HRC joined other LGBT and HIV advocacy groups on a letter urging the Committee to revise the current policy, as well as a joint statement with LGBT, HIV and hemophilia organizations expressing our shared commitment to policies that maintain the safety of the blood supply.
The Committee meets today and tomorrow to discuss the scientific rationale for the current policy as well as its societal implications. A full agenda for the meeting, as well as a link to a live webcast of the proceedings, is available at the Committee's website at http://www.hhs.gov/ophs/bloodsafety/advisorycommittee/index.html. HRC's written testimony and other background and resources are available at www.hrc.org/BloodBan. |
Out In America. |
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Tehanu
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| Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 2:54 am Post subject: |
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Well, so much for that, didn't take long. The HHS has voted to retain the ban.
Asses.
| Quote: | ... The Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability's 9-6 ruling on Friday, first reported by Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly, comes after two days of deliberations on whether to retain the ban, which has come under increasing fire by gay rights activists and allied congressional leaders.
On Wednesday a group of legislators, led by Massachusetts senator John Kerry and Illinois representative Mike Quigley, issued a joint statement in support for amending the ban.
... Addressing the committee on Thursday, Kerry said he was joined by the nation's largest blood-banking organizations in opposition to the current policy. The American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks, and America’s Blood Centers have all blasted the policy as “scientifically and medically unwarranted.”
... In a unanimous vote the panel also called the policy "suboptimal," however, and recommended that distinctions be made between low- and high-risk potential gay donors in a report to the assistant secretary of HHS.
... National Gay and Lesbian Task Force executive director Rea Carey called the committee's decision "outrageous, irresponsible, and archaic." |
The Advocate. |
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pogovio
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Location: New York state
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| Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Tehanu wrote: | | Well, so much for that, didn't take long. The HHS has voted to retain the ban. |
What dinosaurs. Still, they have put a toe in the water.
It wasn't a total loss, and there's still another opportunity for this recommendation to be overridden.
| Quote: | It unanimously recommended a series of steps to guide health authorities in moving to a more nuanced policy that would take into account individual behavior, rather than assessing the characteristics of a broad group — such as men who have sex with men.
The committee also called for studying the feasibility of setting up a protocol of prescreening — testing currently banned men to allow them to become donors
The panel's proposals, which are nonbinding, go to senior executives at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration, which has the final say on any change in policy. |
No changes in restrictions on gay blood donors
A federal panel decides the current limits should stand, but it proposes research that could ease them later.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-blood-gays-201...
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Tehanu
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| Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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A view from the other side -- the Catholic Insight sounds the alarm that not only are gay men wanting to donate blood (those selfish bastards) but we now have to worry about transgender folks getting all uppity and wanting rights!!!!
Don't worry, bozos, I don't think it's catching.
| Quote: | The United States, Canada, France and Germany and many other countries presently maintain a lifetime donation ban for men who have had sex with other men. Recently, in some countries homosexual associations are aligning with advocacy groups, blood-collection agencies and government representatives to lobby their respective governments to lift the ban. Form letters are available on-line for sympathizers to sign and forward to their government agency.
... In Canada, Canadian Blood Services is suing Kyle Freeman, a sexually active gay man who lied about his sexual history in order to donate blood a number of times. Mr. Freeman is being supported by the “gay” community in Canada and portrayed as a loving, compassionate man who only wants to do good things. Mr. Freeman is counter-suing, saying that the policy discriminates against homosexuals.
... The “gay” blood controversy goes hand in hand with other attempts to broaden the “GLBT” assault on society, for example, to achieve recognition for “transgendered” people.
Canadian homosexual activist and Member of Parliament Bill Siksay (NDP), with support from the Liberals, recently introduced a private member’s bill C-389, the Gender Identity and Gender Expression Bill. It passed first and second reading in the House of Commons practically unnoticed. It intends to ensure that “transsexual and transgender Canadians are included in the Canadian Human Rights Act.” Siksay says that the bill is “long overdue” and claims that “transCanadians” face discrimination daily—the usual “we are victims” approach. Conservative MP Sylvie Boucher, Parliamentary secretary for the government’s Status of Women however, answered that there needs to be a clearer understanding of “gender identity” and “gender expression” before changes can be made. (The Hill Times, 17 May 2010).
... The complaints accuse the government for not actively working to address Transgendered people’s unique health wellness issues, issues such as the shortened life expectancy, high rate of suicide, habits of smoking, alcohol and illegal drug use, high rate of depression, HIV/AIDS, cancers, and the prohibition of blood and organ donation. (It is curious that GLB folks insists on donating blood and organs when they readily admit they are subject to diseases over and beyond other groups.)
... The grocery list above indicates again that the “gay” community is determined to present behavioural issues as genetic ones, i.e., that they are born that way. In reality, if they abandoned their wretched lifestyle, none of the above health consequences would occur. |
News flash, assholes. Scare quote all you like, but higher rates of suicide and depression can be directly correlated to having to grow up and live with intolerant bigots such as yourselves. |
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abnormal
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| Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Tehanu wrote: |
Just dating back to my university days when I was still single.
15. Do you have AIDS or have you ever tested positive for HIV/AIDS? no
16. Have you used cocaine within the last 12 months? no
17. Have you ever taken illegal drugs or illegal steroids with a needle even one time? no
18. At any time since 1977, have you taken money or drugs for sex? no
19. Male donors: Have you had sex with a man, even one time since 1977? no
20. Have you ever taken clotting factor concentrates for a bleeding disorder such as hemophilia? no
21. Have you had sex with anyone who has AIDS or has tested positive for HIV or AIDS? I think the answer is no but my single days predate the discovery of AIDS/HIV
22. Female donors: In the last 12 months, have you had sex with a man who had sex, even one time since 1977 with another man? and how exactly would she know?
23. Have you had sex in the last 12 months with anyone who has ever taken illegal drugs or illegal steroids with a needle? and how exactly would I know?
24. At any time in the last 12 months, have you paid money or drugs for sex? no[color]
25. At any time in the last 12 months, have you had sex with anyone who has taken money or drugs for sex? [color=red]and how exactly would I know?
26. Have you had sex in the last 6 months with anyone who has taken clotting factor concentrates? and how exactly would I know?
27. In the last 12 months, have you had or been treated for syphilis or gonorrhea? no
29. In the past 6 months, have you had sex with someone whose sexual background you don’t know? I'm a single university student. What do you think?
30. a) Were you born in or have you lived in Africa since 1977? no
b) Since 1977, did you receive a blood transfusion or blood product in Africa? no
c) Have you had sexual contact with anyone who was born in or lived in Africa since 1977? how about I dated a South African expatriate for a couple of years?
28. In the last 12 months, have you received blood or blood products by transfusion for any reason,such as an accident or surgery?you meanother than knee surgery and rotator cuff surgery? |
Of course now I can't donate blood most places because I've spent too much time in the UK.
But given that half the questions would be answered with "how would I know" I have no idea what the questionnaire is intended to accomplish. |
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pogovio
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| Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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Canada gay blood ban upheld; critics find hope
http://www.365gay.com/news/canada-gay-blood-ban-upheld-critics-find...
| Quote: | A ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men was upheld Thursday in a Canadian court decision branded discriminatory by critics who did, however, find a “glimmer of hope” in the ruling.
...
In dismissing a constitutional challenge of that policy, Ontario Superior Court Justice Catherine Aitken ruled that Canadian Blood Services is not a government entity, so the Charter of Rights does not apply. ... Donating blood, she found, is not a right afforded by law.
...
Aitken did however find that if the charter applied, Canadian Blood Services would not have justified that exclusion period of 33 years and growing. "Evidence was lacking of the existence of real concerns that would make a deferral period of 33 years necessary in order to maintain the current level of safety,” she wrote. "Certainly there was no such evidence supporting the annual increase in the length of the deferral period.” |
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pogovio
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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Dept. of HHS Considers Revisiting Gay Blood Ban
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/07/dept_of_hhs_considers_revisiting_ga...
| Quote: | The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today detailed what steps would need to be taken in order for the country's current ban on blood donations from gay men to be reviewed again. ... The Dept. of HHS' new movement on the issue comes after pressure from Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Mike Quigley ... The document concludes that, at the earliest, review of the ban could be revisited between 24 and 36 months from now. The last time the policy was taken under review was in June 2010. Ultimately, that review by the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability did not overturn the ban.
The question-and-answer document that HHS officials submitted for Kerry and Quigley outline four proposed studies that the department says would adequately address questions concerning the blood ban. The studies are:
| Quote: | a) How does the risk of blood transmissible diseases in the current donor
population relate to risk factors in donors?
b) What is the root cause of Quarantine Release Errors (QRE), the accidental release of blood not cleared for use that occur at blood collection centers and potentially put the blood supply at risk, and what mitigations can be considered?
c) Donor evaluation:
1) Do potential blood donors correctly understand and properly interpret the
current standard questionnaire used to obtain donor history?
2) What motivates a man with MSM behavioral history to donate and would
MSM be likely to comply with modified deferral criteria?
d) Would alternative screening strategy (e.g. pre- and/or post qualifying donation
infectious disease testing) for MSM (and potentially other high-risk donors)
assure blood safety while enabling collection of data that could demonstrate
safe blood collection from a subset of MSM or other currently deferred donors
(e.g. men with a history of abstinence from MSM behavior for a defined time
period)? |
The document concludes with the department's insight into whether a change in the policy stands a chance: | Quote: | The Department has worked to develop a plan that will yield scientific data that are
currently needed to re-evaluate the current policy based on the ACBSA
recommendations. When these studies are complete, the Department is committed to a
full evidence-based evaluation of the policy. If the data indicate that a change is possible
while protecting the blood supply, we will consider a change to the policy
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See the full documents from the Dept. of Health & Human Services:
Q&A (PDF) http://www.bilerico.com/images/Biovigilance%20Q%26A%20FINAL%2007221...
Process Chart (PDF) http://www.bilerico.com/images/Biovigilance%20Process%20Chart%20072...
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Tehanu
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 17640
Location: Seceded from the Ford Nation
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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A homophobic hate group (as defined by the Southern Law Poverty Center) has launched a campaign to maintain the ban on gay male blood donations in the USA. Actually, I suspect this sort of crap is helpful, if anything, because although it's appalling, it also illustrates quite nicely how this ban is homophobic.
| Quote: | Peter LaBarbera’s Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) last week launched a campaign to prevent gay men from donating blood. Keep the Gay Blood Ban (KGB²) was sparked, LaBarbera says, because of “renewed lobby efforts to open up the U.S. blood supply to homosexuality-practicing men.”
... “Sadly, Sen. Kerry and others crusading against the homosexual blood ban do so on the basis that the ban is mainly about ‘anti-gay discrimination’ rather than preserving public health,” LaBarbera wrote in the article.
... LaBarbera writes:
| Quote: | | [F]ew seem interested in investigating – much less restricting – the actual high-risk homosexual practices and deviant behaviors depicted and described in this (pro-‘gay’) flier, which crassly helps explain the immense heath [sic] risks of male homosexuality We excerpt this flier – vulgar slang references and all – to help educate the public as to how this lifestyle is so dangerous that men who practice it must be kept from the nation’s blood supply. |
LaBarbera asks readers to contact their U.S. senators and representatives and ask them “to put the safety of Americans – and a pristine blood supply – ahead of the demands of the selfish Homosexuality Lobby.” He also wants congressional leaders to launch an investigation “into the health hazards of homosexual behaviors (just as the government studied the dangers of smoking).”
AFTAH defines itself as “a group dedicated to exposing the homosexual activist agenda.” Its nonprofit status was recently revoked by the Internal Revenue Service for failure to comply with IRS nonprofit filing requirements.
The Southern Poverty Law Center still defines AFTAH as a hate group (among 29 others in the Illinois, where the organization is based). |
The American Independent |
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TS.
Delicious schadenfreude
Joined: 11 Apr 2006
Posts: 14585
Location: Toronto, ON
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| Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 3:42 am Post subject: |
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"Pristine." There's a right-wing dog-whistle word. I am willing to bet that you could essentially replace "gay" and "homosexual" with "Jew" and "Jewish", and have a pretty good approximation of Nazi propaganda.
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Slumberjack
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Posts: 919
Location: squelch~~big waves and high smiles from the stomach and intestine of capital.
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| Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:21 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | He also wants congressional leaders to launch an investigation “into the health hazards of homosexual behaviors (just as the government studied the dangers of smoking) |
These bigots should be careful with what they wish for. Congressional committees often involves a combination of hearings, videos, pictures and individual testimonials, with the proceedings televised. Idiots.
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Tehanu
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Joined: 12 Apr 2006
Posts: 17640
Location: Seceded from the Ford Nation
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:38 am Post subject: |
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Canada's reconsidering the lifetime blood donation ban against men who've had sex with men, modelled after the UK's recent decision. Good news, right? Not really.
| Quote: | ... The U.K. health department said Thursday it will lift the ban on donations by gay men as long their last sexual contact with another man was more than one year ago.
Canadian Blood Services and its counterpart Héma Québec are also reconsidering their bans.
"Certainly our hope is that in the near future we can move away from a permanent ban to something that is more reasonable," Jean-Paul Bédard, vice-president of public affairs for Canadian Blood Services said in an interview with CBC News.
... Deferral periods vary, with the U.K. deciding on an 12-month deferral period. Other countries use five-year and 10-year deferrals, Bédard said.
... "In our case, we're absolutely certain that going from a lifetime deferral to a five-year deferral or even a one-year deferral — because that's what we were promoting a couple of years ago — would absolutely make no difference in terms of the risk of HIV [transmission]," said Marc Germain of Héma-Québec. |
CBC.
Want to get past the charge of homophobia?
Any straight person who's had sex in the past year doesn't get to donate blood either.
And if that sounds incredibly stupid, then there's a reason for that.
Over and over and over again, how many times does this need to be said. People -- regardless of sexual orientation -- who engage in behaviour that is high-risk for HIV or Hep-C don't donate until they've passed the window period and been tested. Simple. Equitable. Non-discriminatory.
And considering how many desperate "please, please donate" ads with wistful children talking about how their lives have been saved, you'd think that CBS and other agencies would be pushing to make it the screening as reasonable as possible. |
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pogovio
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 16 May 2006
Posts: 900
Location: New York state
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| Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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12-month rule replaces lifetime ban on gay blood donors in UK.
http://ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/11/Sep/0802.htm
| Quote: | The key sentence in the Department of Health’s announcement makes it absolutely clear.
“Men who have had anal or oral sex with another man in the past 12 months, with or without a condom, will still not be eligible to donate blood.” |
European Commission: Banning Gay Men from Donating Blood Is Against EU Law
http://ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/11/Sep/0801.htm
This is the headline of the article, but if you read the article, it's not clear what, if anything, this means or implies. My guess is that it means that gays are not supposed to be banned for being gay, but they can be banned for having gay sex.
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pogovio
Fulltime enMasse Member
Joined: 16 May 2006
Posts: 900
Location: New York state
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 8:34 am Post subject: |
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As blood donations decline, U.S. ban on gay donors is examined
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/06/health/gay-men-blood-ban/index.html
| Quote: | In June, a group of 64 U.S. legislators led by Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Illinois, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services encouraging it to move forward with a study that may lead to the end of the decades-old ban.
...
GMHC suggested the population to consider should include gay men who have had only one sex partner in the past six months. Spain and Italy, two countries with more progressive donor policies, hold everyone to that standard regardless of sexual orientation.
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