A gay man's rant (about blood and organ donation)

[NorrinRadd 0]

Increasing? Naw. People are people and have been since we began. Sometimes you notice it more, and in this age of social media, cameras in phones, and the ability to spread gossip instantly, it becomes more noticeable. But I doubt it can be said people are MORE irresponsible

Why drive myself crazy trying to be normal, when I am already at crazy?

[billvon 2,384]

>I am surprised at the implicit trust of a blood donor's honesty on a form though.

Keep in mind that donated blood goes through a fair number of tests before being used. That's why they take the pint and 5-8 vials of blood; the vials go to testing labs and if it passes all the tests, it is used.

[normiss 620]

Fully understood.

Which is why I still wonder about a number of questions on there.



If you're properly testing the blood, why ask lifestyle and travel questions???

[billvon 2,384]

>If you're properly testing the blood, why ask lifestyle and travel questions???

Each backs up the other. That way if they screw up the test they still have a chance of seeing the risk in the blood donation.

[lawrocket 3]

It's rather interesting. I think there are people who forget Ryan White and Arthur Ashe were. As much as it is difficult to point to such things, there are odds to be played.

Had gay intercourse - just once - in the past? Your risk just went up. Used IV drugs? High risk. Gotten a tattoo? Gotten a homemade tattoo? High-risk hepatitis. Check out hepatitis in prison.

Should it be a blanket proscription? Depends - that testing costs. Can they afford it?

I donate frequently. I've been in the service so that part is checked. I've checked that I have been exposed to another person's blood. "I have a two-year old and a one-year old. They get boo boos quite often." Check me off.

I think it's actually kind of a rough thing. I've found the gay community to be one of the more altruistic communities out there. They are exactly the type who would frequently donate blood. Back in the 80s it was the same way and it led to a lot of infections.

I can, of course, understand how gay men can feel left out. Sure, it is not "gay cancer" as it was thought to be in the past. Yes, there are other ways of getting HIV and I've known HIV positive people who have gotten it in many ways (homosexual sex, heterosexual sex with philandering husband, IV drug use, transfusion, etc.)

But - and it's a big but - two thirds of all new HIV infections in the US are among men who have sex with men. Even though men who have sex with menn are about 2-3% of the population. For some reason, blacks represent 44% of the new diagnoses of HIV, despite being 12% of the population.

Of course, HIV is a disease that does not discriminate. But its effects sure do. And from an economics perspective, it may be that blanket prohibitions are easier.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[lawrocket 3]

billvon

>If you're properly testing the blood, why ask lifestyle and travel questions???

Each backs up the other. That way if they screw up the test they still have a chance of seeing the risk in the blood donation.

And it knocks out those which they already identify as high-risk prior to testing it. It's economics, and they lose money with every pint of blood that must be disposed of.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kelpdiver 2]

Darius11

***They don't allow blood from men who have had sex with men. :( Same myopic issue.

Anal sex has a much higher risk of spreading disease, and you can’t take people at their word when it comes to safe sex practices.
I am also sure that whatever guidelines they have to make sure the blood is safe is not 100% safe or else the issue would have never came up to begin with.

So those facts all tend to make sense, and explain why they wouldn’t take blood from Homosexuals.

There is PC and then there is science, and risk management

Have you seen what the prevalence of anal sex is within the younger hetero community? The question you want to ask, but will have a hard time doing, is: "Have you been on receiving end of anal sex?"

[Darius11 12]

kelpdiver

******They don't allow blood from men who have had sex with men. :( Same myopic issue.

Anal sex has a much higher risk of spreading disease, and you can’t take people at their word when it comes to safe sex practices.
I am also sure that whatever guidelines they have to make sure the blood is safe is not 100% safe or else the issue would have never came up to begin with.

So those facts all tend to make sense, and explain why they wouldn’t take blood from Homosexuals.

There is PC and then there is science, and risk management

Have you seen what the prevalence of anal sex is within the younger hetero community? The question you want to ask, but will have a hard time doing, is: "Have you been on receiving end of anal sex?"

Very true.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[LyraM45 0]

RonD1120

***You are missing the point. Yes, there is a higher risk of gay men having it. But there are enough heteros getting HIV that they are a risk group too, now. So the screening system has to be changed to something better than "we'll check these people but wont worry about these people".

Change the questions:

Have you ever had sex?

Have you ever had sex with more than one person?

If no, are you married to that person?


Hmmm... no such thing as a long term committed relationship without the marriage cert?

And agree with what was said-- I know plenty of married men that still screw around. A marriage cert is not a magic piece of paper that seals your shtuff in your pants to anybody but your SO.

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[Remster 24]

Quote

I know plenty of married men

To be fair, a lot of those married men are screwing around with married women.

Remster

[LyraM45 0]

Remster

Quote

I know plenty of married men

To be fair, a lot of those married men are screwing around with married women.

Doh... that really was a stereotypical slip when I posted that. I meant to take that out and put people instead of men.

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[JohnnyMarko 1]

I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to lie on the questionaire and donate blood and organs and hope the system catches anything that may be wrong with my blood. What's the worst that can happen?








*totally kidding, but wonder how many people out there that aren't like me that just lie and donate anyways.

[normiss 620]

I'd bet thousands at the very very least.

[wmw999 2,117]

The worst is that someone particularly sensitive gets something from you.

I had hepatitis A when I was 11; that's exactly at the point at which they say "before, you can donate blood, after, you can't." I talked about it with my doctor, and he said that frankly, until they can neutralize, it's probably better not to donate, because the downside of someone getting sick is that potentially they can get really and mysteriously sick, but people rarely die because of a lack of blood donors. Not that there are too many, but the management is pretty good around here at least.

It's not a contraindication for organ donation, so I'm down for that.

But I did have hepatitis -- that's the difference.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[kelpdiver 2]

JohnnyMarko

I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to lie on the questionaire and donate blood and organs and hope the system catches anything that may be wrong with my blood. What's the worst that can happen?

*totally kidding, but wonder how many people out there that aren't like me that just lie and donate anyways.

Back in the 90s when HIV tests were cumbersome, privacy uncertain, and LaRouche types eager to quarantine, I believe it was very not unusual for gays to use blood donations as a backdoor test.

[Lefty 0]

kelpdiver

it was very not unusual for gays to use blood donations as a backdoor test.

...*snort*

Provoking a reaction isn't the same thing as saying something meaningful.
-Calvin

[NorrinRadd 0]

JohnnyMarko

I've come to the conclusion that I'm just going to lie on the questionaire and donate blood and organs and hope the system catches anything that may be wrong with my blood. What's the worst that can happen?








*totally kidding, but wonder how many people out there that aren't like me that just lie and donate anyways.

There are plenty of heteros out there who rarely if ever get themselves tested, and slap on a rubber just to stop a baby from being made, if even that.
If you keep your testing up to date, practise safe sex, I don't see any issue, and frankly you will be ahead of the game.

Edit: In any event, this whole thing is more about the right to be honest, not about the ability of men who have sex with men to donate blood. Because, mitigating circumstances aside, it really is just an honour system.

Why drive myself crazy trying to be normal, when I am already at crazy?