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Should "gay" men be allowed to donate blood?

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Reply 20

A5ko

They should save all the homosexual blood for the homophobes, then when they need it, pump 'em full of gay.

Reply 21

TomatoLounge

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

I suppose they would have to to determine blood type - I wonder where I got the idea of it being tested in batches from? :beard:

It's still expensive though, so screening is important.

Yes, I think screening is correct I'm just not sure they're asking the best questions. Casual sex and unprotected sex are high risk factors, not to mention drug use.

Then again, maybe it's all fine and the system works :dontknow:

I'm not so much worried by the cost (I think its worth the money to save lives). But screening is a good idea because of the risk of false negatives - especially with HIV which doesn't show up on a test at all for a month...

Reply 22

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by Катя

Straight people engage in unprotected sex too... ugh.

This is what I'm trying to get at - there doesn't seem to be enough concern about this point.

Reply 23

TomatoLounge

Original post by A5ko

They should save all the homosexual blood for the homophobes, then when they need it, pump 'em full of gay.

Reply 24

ChaoticButterfly

Do you get asked about your sex life if you donate blood then?

Reply 25

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by TomatoLounge

Well, it's good to be worried about cost with this kind of thing :smile:

That money could be much better spent elsewhere than testing blood from donations which are likely to be unusable anyway.

The question is - are they screening on the right questions? I'm not sure.

Reply 26

Cold Phoenix

It's fine the way it is there is too much high risk amongst gay men. The virus can be dormant for years

Reply 27

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

Do you get asked about your sex life if you donate blood then?

They ask you who've you've slept with, but Катя says they don't ask you about number of recent partners and that kind of thing.

Reply 28

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by Cold Phoenix

It's fine the way it is there is too much high risk amongst gay men. The virus can be dormant for years

The current way it is is if you've slept with a man in the past 12 months, which won't be useful in the case of the virus being dormant for years.

It will usually be detectable after a few months, even if you're not showing symptoms.

Reply 29

Evening

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

This is what I'm trying to get at - there doesn't seem to be enough concern about this point.

Yeah, but you won't automatically get HIV or an STD from sex with two straight people having unprotected sex, whereas two gay men almost certainly will if they have unprotected sex.

Reply 30

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

They ask you who've you've slept with, but Катя says they don't ask you about number of recent partners and that kind of thing.

I been thinking about giving blood for ages but am I going to have to admit to having never had sex or done anything sexual? :-/ Probably more worried about that than the actual giving blood :tongue:

What happens if you are gay but a virgin? What then?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 31

Puddles the Monkey

Here's an example form. I'm not sure if it's the right one.

So you could have been engaging in high risk sexual activity 13 months ago and be fine to donate, but if you've slept with your long term partner of five years yesterday you're not allowed.

Perhaps they follow up on this question to find out though?

I admit I don't really know.

Reply 32

TomatoLounge

Original post by Evening

Yeah, but you won't automatically get HIV or an STD from sex with two straight people having unprotected sex, whereas two gay men almost certainly will if they have unprotected sex.

Well only if one of them has HIV. And even then rates of transmission are nowhere near 100%.

Reply 33

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by Evening

Yeah, but you won't automatically get HIV or an STD from sex with two straight people having unprotected sex, whereas two gay men almost certainly will if they have unprotected sex.

Why?

Reply 34

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by Evening

Yeah, but you won't automatically get HIV or an STD from sex with two straight people having unprotected sex, whereas two gay men almost certainly will if they have unprotected sex.

Depends on the kind of sex the heterosexual people are engaging in.

Anal sex is the high risk factor.

Reply 35

Cold Phoenix

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

I don't see a problem. It's only giving blood I don't see why they have to make a big fuss of it. I see the risks outweighing the benefits

Reply 36

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by A5ko

They should save all the homosexual blood for the homophobes, then when they need it, pump 'em full of gay.

Reply 37

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by Cold Phoenix

I don't see a problem. It's only giving blood I don't see why they have to make a big fuss of it. I see the risks outweighing the benefits

My point is are they checking for the right risks? Why stop gay people from donating whilst still allowing high-risk hetero people to donate?

Reply 38

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

I been thinking about giving blood for ages but am I going to have to admit to having never had sex or done anything sexual? :-/ Probably more worried about that than the actual giving blood :tongue:

What happens if you are gay but a virgin? What then?

That's not something to worry about - you should definitely think about it :redface:

They don't ask about your sexuality - they ask about who you've slept with. :smile:

They won't know if you're a virgin or not either.

Reply 39

Катя

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

Do you get asked about your sex life if you donate blood then?

I can confirm* that they don't.

* = in all fairness I never even got as far as handing in my form, I just walked out after I saw the questions. This was about a year and a half ago though, so I don't remember exactly, but they asked:

– tattoos and piercings in the last 3/4 months
– sex with a sex worker
– sex with a man who's had sex with a man (if female)
– sex with a man, protected or unprotected (if male)
– sex with anyone who's been sexually active in HIV-risky areas (Africa, SE Asia??)

Nothing about "do you use protection" or "how many people do you sleep with per month" (which IMO are just as important, if not more!!)

What bugged me the most was that if you're a guy who's ****ed a guy even with protection, you're still barred from donating. Same for women who sleep with men who've slept with men in the past – even if everybody was, uh, wrapped up in condoms, you're still banned.