DC Mayor's Comments on Blood Donation Fall Short

Last week DC Mayor Anthony Williams urged residents in Washington, DC to donate blood. In a press release, he stated: "Donating blood only takes a few minutes but could help save someone’s life. I ask people to either donate themselves or remind a family member or a friend to give blood. The supply of blood at our local hospitals is dangerously low. Trauma victims, premature infants, cancer patients and people with blood disease are among the many patients who depend on a steady blood supply to survive."

What he neglected to mention, is that a large number of DC residents are unable to donate blood, because of an outdated, and frankly bigoted policy. All men who self-identify as gay, regardless of whether or not they are at risk for HIV, are banned from donating blood. That's right. A straight man who has had multiple sexual partners may likely be eligible to donate blood but a gay man who is in a long term monogamous relationship and not at risk for HIV, is not allowed to donate blood, simply because of who he is.

I will allow for the possibility that there was a medical justification for this guideline when it was implemented in the eighties, but today it is simply wrong, and sends the wrong message to DC residents about who is at risk for becoming HIV positive.

Current guidelines prohibit men from giving blood if they have had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977. The policy was first implemented in the mid 1980's, out of concern about the high rate of HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men.

LGBTI Health organizations have repeatedly expressed their disagreement with the FDA guidelines over the years. The Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) first passed a resolution in 1997 which describes the policy as "not scientifically justified and counterproductive to ensuring that adequate supplies of blood products are available throughout the nation"

The GLMA statement continues: "many gay and bisexual men experience personal frustration and shame by being unfairly stigmatized in work and social settings due to this erroneous regulation."

One such individual is Charles McMoore. Moore, a gay man in a committed relationship, was prevented from donating blood at his workplace in Washington DC. In 1998 McMoore filed a sexual orientation discrimination complaint against the Red Cross with the District of Columbia Human Rights Commission. The matter was eventually settled privately.

The GLMA resolution calls on the FDA "to reflect equivalent standards of evaluating homosexual and heterosexual sex risks with regards to safety of blood donations; and allow HIV negative persons with low risk behaviors, regardless of sexual orientation, the opportunity to fully exercise the civic responsibility of donating blood."

Mayor Williams, maintaining the blood supply is important. But you can't mention this issue without mentioning how blood donation guidelines impact gay men in the District; and how those same misguided policies are responsible for the blood shortage in the first place.