I wonder into the Student Union and am bombarded with signs that have giant red crosses on them. I pass a large room on my left, the temporary home of the Red Cross. Today they are taking blood donations. I pass by without making eye contact. I’ve always been afraid of needles, and my fear is a little too much to let me willingly go in and donate.
I meet some of my friends upstairs. In casual conversation, I ask if any of them have donated blood.
My one friend who is openly gay responds, “Don’t you know? You can’t donate blood if you’re gay.”
The news shocked me. I had had absolutely no idea. In my confusion and budding outrage, I asked why.
In 1981, doctors began to take notice of an infection that started appearing in gay men. This was the start of the AIDS epidemic, an event that still resonates with the American people 35 years after it began.
Although it has long been proven that HIV/AIDS is not an infection limited to gay people, the stigma still sticks around. As a result of not knowing much about the virus at the time and a growing fear because of that, America passed a federal ban in 1983. Men who have had sex with another man have a lifetime ban on donating blood. This was true until just last year, when the restrictions were lessened, but not entirely lifted. Gay men may now donate blood if they have not had sex with a man in one year before the day that they are donating blood.
Maybe the ban was understandable at the time of its creation. Not a lot was known about HIV/AIDS and people were terrified. However, cases of AIDS started rapidly appearing in straight people, too. These cases were prominent in 1982. These people, often hemophiliacs and heroin users, were contracting the disease through blood infections. Even though it has been known since 1982 (a year before the ban was even passed) that HIV/AIDS is not exclusively a disease among the gay population, it has created long-lasting prejudices against the gay community.
As it is known that HIV/AIDS is not exclusive to the gay community, the ban on allowing gay men to donate creates some frustrating double standards. A woman who has had sex with a straight man infected with HIV/AIDS is allowed to donate blood, even though she could have possibly contracted the infection.
While scientific facts show that the ban on gay men from donating blood isn’t founded, the existence of the ban over 30 years since its creation exposes prejudice against the LGBT community. People outside of the community and in little contact with its members often feel uncomfortable when in the presence of an open LGBT member. The blood of gay men and women is no different than the blood of straight people. The refusal to believe this fact is not a preference, it is blatant homophobia. Anyone who wants to donate blood and is healthy enough to do so should not be turned away based on who they choose to love.
