'Baby Steps'

As many of you are most likely aware, gay men in Canada (and definitely the states) are not allowed to donate blood. That's just how it is. Now to me this doesn't seem right not only because I'm an advocate for gay rights but also because it's a double standard. Here's my take on this.

Alright so basically what the Canadian Blood Services are saying is that gay men are not allowed to donate blood but straight people are more than welcome (if they meet the criteria required for donating blood in Canada). Their reasoning is that gay men have more sexually transmitted diseases. Okay... But what about all the straight people with sexually transmitted diseases? So they go on to explain that HIV is more prevalent in homosexuals which is definitely not the case anymore. I'm sorry, so you're telling me that a perfectly healthy gay man can not donate his blood? This makes absolutely NO sense to me for two reasons. The first reason is that there are tests done on the blood either way. So if the gay man who donated blood did in fact have a disease and had lied to Blood Services (which is a crime) or didn't know he had a disease, they would detect the disease (the same way they would detect a disease if a straight person lied and said they didn't have a disease). The second thing that bothers me is that there is ALWAYS a shortage of blood yet Canadian Blood Services can still be this discriminatory?! I realize that back before much was known about HIV/AIDS people were extra careful about the blood being donated but we know SO much more nowadays and we know that straight people are just as likely to have unprotected sex as gay people. It blows my mind.

Anyways, I was skyping with my sibling yesterday night (after finishing up about a million errands) and she brought something very exciting to my attention. It seems that the UK has recently lifted their ban on the donation of blood from gay males! The first thing I thought was, "Finally" (click to read the story) but then my sibling went on to explain that if the individual had had sex within the last year he would still not be eligible. That's why the title of this entry is 'Baby Steps' because even though gays are now allowed to donate, there are still MAJOR restrictions on how and when they can do so. 

For those of you who disagree with my ideas, that's completely fine. I don't expect you all to have the same opinion as me, that's why it's called an opinion. That's all it is. I personally believe we should be following the UK's example but then again who knows how long that will take. Either way, I thought it was interesting enough to make an entry about it! ;)