American have turned out in droves to support the American Red Cross’ call for blood donors following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Thanks to an outpouring of support, those injured in the tragedy and others have had a better chance at survival. Those who have donated blood already should be commended, but not everyone is eligible to give blood because of the stringent Federal Drug Administration guidelines for donors. While most of these guidelines are grounded in sound medical reasoning, one in particular is not. The guidelines have left one group of the population conspicuously absent from blood donation lines: gay men.
According to the FDA, any male who has had sex with another male since 1977 must permanently “defer” donating blood. The rationale behind singling out gay men is that these individuals engage in “high-risk behavior” that is associated with “certain infectious diseases,” specifically HIV.
Even after ignoring the obvious argument against this policy?that all donated blood is stringently tested for infectious diseases before it is used?it is still difficult to justify the FDA’s position. Although gay men statistically have a higher rate of HIV and AIDS infection than other groups in the U.S. population, this alone should not be the reason for singling them out as completely ineligible for blood donation. Not all sexually-active gay men engage in so-called “high-risk behavior.” A homosexual male who has sex and uses a condom is far less of a risk for transmitting HIV than a heterosexual male who does not use a condom. Likewise, a homosexual male in a monogamous sexual relationship in which each partner is tested regularly for HIV poses less of a risk than a heterosexual male who has multiple sexual partners and who has never taken an HIV test. In both cases, however, the homosexual is forbidden from donating, while the heterosexual is permitted, even though the heterosexual is clearly more likely to have been exposed to HIV. One cannot help but find the FDA’s guidelines to be discriminatory and homophobic.
If the FDA wants to prevent HIV transmission via blood transfusions?which should be its primary goal?officials should continue to develop new, more effective testing procedures for blood. The agency should also encourage potential donors to evaluate their past behavior and determine the likelihood of having been exposed to HIV. It should not, however, make unilateral regulations that prevent perfectly healthy and safe donors from offering the gift of life to others. Until then, FDA policy with respect to donating blood is just as homophobic as Jerry Falwell and as discriminatory as Jim Crow laws.
