Update: Thanks to Patrick, and NPR, I’ve learned that the Food and Drug Administration instituted the ban on gay & bisexual men donating blood to organizations such as American Red Cross. I’ve discontinued the previous petition on act.ly in place of a new one that petitions Barack Obama to lift the FDA’s ban on allowing blood donations from gay & bisexual men.
The day after September 11, 2001, New York City asked its residents to donate blood. Some of my friends tried to donate blood but were turned away because they’re gay. The City desperately needed blood donations so my friends went to different make-shift donation centers, lied about their sexual identity (and history), and donated blood. Someone is alive because of a gay man that does not have HIV or AIDS.
Organizations such as American Red Cross will not allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood if he “has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977”. This policy remains the only condition for denying gay and bisexual men the right to donate blood, despite the fact that technology to test and screen for HIV/AIDS has vastly improved since the early 1980s.
The American Red Cross states on its website that currently only 3 out of every 100 people in American donate blood. If we are to believe a widely-accepted statistic that 1 in every 10 individuals is gay or lesbian, as many as 10 gay and bisexual men out of every 100 people could donate their blood and kick the number 3 up a couple notches—greatly improving blood supply in times of emergency.
American Red Cross is urging Americans to “change a life” by supporting the organization through donations. I think the organization should follow its own call-to-arms and affect change of its own: it’s time American Red Cross (and other organizations) adopted a new blood donation policy that is neither homophobic nor clings to a legacy of HIV and AIDS that is out of touch with medical breakthroughs and technical advancements.
I started a petition on act.ly for @RedCross to allow gay & bisexual men the right to donate blood. If enough people sign and tweet this petition, it may get the attention of American Red Cross and start a discussion – any discussion – between the organization and the LGBT community.
America is approaching the 8-year anniversary of September 11, I’d like to believe that we have learned from our past and are willing to come to the aid of one another—regardless of sexual identity.