Gay Man Donates Kidney; Most Donations Illegal

Many people don’t realize that federal law forbids gay men from donating blood, tissue, or organs. The regulation began as a guideline in 1983 in the middle of the AIDS panic and was codified in 1990.

While I believe it was necessary at its inception, the ban has long since been outmoded by the testing required of all donations. Current blood testing detects HIV between 10 and 21 days after exposure. Many organizations have been trying to get this unnecessary restriction overturned for quite some time. Since 2006 their numbers include the Red Cross, the AABB (the international blood association), and America’s Blood Centers.

Yet in the face of all scientific research to the contrary, the FDA and CDC, which regulate the nation’s blood supply and tissue/organ donations, say that a lifetime ban on gay men who have had sex once in the last 25 years is appropriate. (By the way, a woman who had unprotected anal sex last night? Step right up! Two gay men who have only had sex with each other for the past fifty years? Their blood’s no good.)

The rule is iron-clad for blood and tissue, but there is one exception for organ donation. Jim Swift of KXAN, the Fox affiliate in Austin, Texas, filed this report yesterday:

Thank you Philip Knisely, for risking a friendship to save a life.

This morning I found out that there will be a protest/blood drive about the FDA gay ban in Phoenix, Arizona TOMORROW, February 21, 2009. 100 healthy HIV-, Hepatitis B- and Hepatitis C- men will ask to give blood and save up to three lives each; based on the current policy they will be denied the ability to donate. A second blood drive will take place in cities across the nation on May 23, 2009.

For more information on the May 23 blood drive, stay tuned to RightToSave.org. [edit 4/10/2011: righttosave.org is now used by another organization and is listed by google as malicious. Don't go there.]