The first-ever nationwide gay blood drive demonstration took place July 12 at more than 50 locations across the country, including the Lincoln Park Lifesource branch in Chicago.
Ryan James Yezak organized the demonstration to raise awareness about the ban and increase pressure on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lift the ban.
Yezak is producing and directing a feature-length documentary, Second Class Citizens, about discrimination based on sexual orientation and will be including footage from the Los Angeles demonstration and news clips from around the country in his documentary.
Since 1977, the FDA has banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood due to the emergence of HIV/AIDS.
"The ban is outdated, and as a result, otherwise eligible gay and bisexual men are unable to donate blood and help save lives," said Yezak. "Not only that, but the ban perpetuates negative stereotypes and stigma. Whether intentional or not, it is discrimination based on sexual orientation."
A number of gay men showed up at the Lifesource location to donate blood and Chicago House was on hand to give the men a 20-minute rapid oral HIV test to bring inside the Lifesource donation facility.
Liz Thompson, HIV testing manager at Chicago House, said, "We are honored to be supporting this event today. We are aware that there are numerous national policies that continue shame men who have sex with men (MSM) and continue to stigmatize the LGBT community."
Of his experience inside the Lifesource facility, Joe Dix said, "I told them I would like to donate blood and announced that I was a gay man. I told her about the HIV screening that I had just completed [with Chicago House] and that my results were [non-reactive]. I asked her if it was still possible to give blood and she said I could go through their screening process if I wanted to but that I would get deferred when I answered yes to the question about having sex with men. I asked the woman, if I go through the screening process is that going to change the result in any way? She responded that they would love to have me donate blood but the FDA regulations don't allow them to accept blood donations from MSM."
Another potential donor, Brian Keeley, also shared his experience. "I went inside already knowing that they would deny me because I am gay. I wanted to have it recorded that I am interested in donating and that I meet all the other criteria [his HIV test from Chicago House also came up non-reactive] for donating. So I registered and went through and answered all the initial screening questions. After I answered all the questions they had to defer me. They also told me that these policies are continuously under review and can be changed so at that point I gave them my contact information so they could let me know if anything changes regarding the FDA blood donation policies," said Brian Keeley.
Sheila Simmons, who is married to a man from Cameroon, Africa came to share her story. Simmons said that she and her husband are also barred from giving blood based on geographic factors.
Straight allies and social justice advocates Molly McGown and Grishma Shah were also on hand to lend their support for the gay blood drive demonstration.
The AABB, America's Blood Centers and the Red Cross said in a joint statement, "We believe the current lifetime deferral for MSM should be modified and donor deferral criteria should be made comparable with criteria for other behaviors that pose an increased risk for transmission of transfusion-transmitted infections. We strongly support the use of rational, scientifically-based deferral periods that are applied fairly and consistently among blood donors who engage in similar risk activities. We support ongoing efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health to fund research to evaluate deferral policies and prevent potential risks to the blood supply."
The FDA added that "Deferral of MSM from donation of blood and tissues is based on well-documented observations of much higher rates of transmissible diseases among some MSM than in the non-MSM general population. An estimated 77 percent of diagnosed HIV infections among males were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact.
"Although scientific evidence has not yet demonstrated that blood donated by MSM or a subgroup of these potential donors does not have a substantially increased rate of HIV infection compared to currently accepted blood donors, the FDA remains willing to consider new approaches to donor screening and testing. If those approaches can assure that blood recipients are not placed at an increased risk of HIV or other transfusion transmitted diseases, the FDA will consider a change to its current policy."
See www.gayblooddrive.com, www.2ndclassfilm.com, and www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/BloodBloodProducts/QuestionsaboutBlood/ucm108186.htm for more information.
