Posted on 08/12/2023 6:16:40 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
For the first time in nearly 40 years, monogamous gay and bisexual men are now eligible to donate blood with the American Red Cross.
"We want to make sure that it's open for anyone to be able to donate, regardless of their sexual orientation," said Kyle Kriegl, executive director of the American Red Cross' Southwest Wisconsin Chapter. "We want to make sure that we're all inclusive to everyone for this."
In the midst of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration enacted a life-long ban on blood donation for gay men.
"It just seemed really unfair and unprofessional that that a medical organization would be would be increasing this bias," said executive director at OutReach LGBTQ Community Center Steve Starkey.
That was true until 2015, but even then, gay and bisexual men had to be celibate for at least a year before they could donate. In 2020, they dropped that period to three months.
Under the new guidelines, everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, will be asked the same screening questions. That means gay and bisexual men with only one sexual partner will be eligible to donate.
"Treating each individual case separately is a really good move," Starkey said. "Then you're kind of basing it on the person history and medical facts, rather than just banning a whole class of people."
The change comes at a time when the Red Cross says they're facing a donor shortage this summer.
"Each day, the American Red Cross, we need to collect at least 29,000 units of blood for the United States to make sure that we have enough in the blood supply," Kreigl said.
Starkey says after decades of exclusion, he's not sure how quickly the LGBTQ community will hop on board.
"I don't know what the reaction will be," Starkey said. "But at least now people that do want to participate, are able to participate in are not treated as different because of their sexual orientation."
For the Red Cross, it's the more the merrier.
"We want to make sure that, you know, as many folks that can donate are donating," Kriegl said.
No it impacts everyone. Now everyone receiving blood products has an increased probability to catch chronic life threatening diseases, all for the name of “inclusion”
Could they at least keep theirs separate?
They can't share the suffering and misery resulting from their deviant behavior to those of us who find it objectionable without a disease vector.
True monogamists or serial monogamists?
It’s practically a given that a bisexual is unlikely to be a monogamist from the outset.
Good, don’t support them. After the Alameda fire and being homeless, I never was able to even make contact with red cross. They’re are absolutely useless except for virtue signaling bs.
Because gay men are just clamoring to donate blood...
Exactly.
Inclusion before safety.
Diversity before excellence.
Color before character.
etc.
Gay and bisexual men are now eligible to donate blood with the American Red Cross.
What could go wrong recall when Bill Clinton sold prisoners blood to Canada.
Sane
life-long ban on blood donation for gay men.
My brother needed blood after a minor operation - doctor told him he’d prefer if my brother took a LONG recovery rather than a blood transfusion - said there are new letters of hepatitis being discovered every day and the screening tests don’t pick up the new varieties.
Took about six weeks for him to recover.
I think the smartest thing you can do, if you’re having a non-emergency operation that requires you’ll need blood, is to stockpile your own beforehand.
Not sure why this isn’t a business model. Or is it? I dunno!
As a Universal Donor, I used to be a HUGE blood contributor to The American Red Cross. My Dad was, too - he had a number of ‘Gallon Club’ pins and awards.
Not anymore. How can BLOOD be something that now has to be ‘politically correct?’ Shouldn’t SAFETY of the blood supply come FIRST for something like that? Ugh!
Same here - visited parts of Mexico back in the day and couldn’t give blood afterwards. We didn’t know it at the time, but I guess we were traveling where all the gay guys were meeting up. Blech!
It’s sad to realize how third-worldism, with all its sordid issues, is invading America at a rapid pace.
We’re still relatively insulated from it in The Heartland, but at this rate, we won’t be for much longer. :(
I thought it was a fairly common practice:
"When faced with major surgery, you may have concerns about the risks of blood transfusions. One way to make it safer is with a preoperative autologous donation (PAD), in which your blood is collected before surgery and given back to you during or after surgery if you should happen to need it."
https://www.verywellhealth.com/blood-donation-before-surgery-2549514#Surgery%20with%20High%20Blood%20Loss
“Are you monogamous?”
“Why, yes. Yes, I am.”
“OK. You can give blood.”
Well that was a simple solution eh. 😂💉
Same as Isaac Asimov did.
The ARC idiots (or perverts) and any gov bureaucrats who support this insane idea need to lose all funding and any control over the nation’s blood supply.
I see. That’s awful.
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