Reagan-Era HIV Ignorance Still in Place: Homophobia and Blood Donation

A man was denied the opportunity to give blood recently in Indiana because he was not man enough for the screeners .

When I read this, given the attention that certain segments of the media have focused on the question of Marcus Bachmann's actual sexual orientation, his appearance and mannerisms that seem to many people to suggest his sexual orientation is gay, I found myself wondering if HE would be allowed to give blood, if he presented himself to do so.

In fact, a person's normal, natural, unconscious speech patterns, like those for which Marcus Bachmann, notorious homophobe, is being criticized, ARE a reliable identifier for sexual orientation, more than 77% of the time, and full words as they are spoken are even more reliable than that.
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The natural, normal speech pattern and appearance of Marcus Bachmann is very similar to that of the straight actor acting the role of the gay character Cameron on the hit television show, Modern family. The difference is of course, that Marcus Bachmann isn't acting, and is a noted homophobe.  The Bachmanns own and direct a clinic that practices sham psychology to pray away the gay, apparently promoting religious based ignorance over established science, much like this outdated blood donor regulation promotes an ignorant and obsolete understanding of homosexuality and medical knowledge. Both the Daily Show from the week of July 11, 2011, and the success of the ABC show Modern Family puts the awareness of what triggers our 'gaydar' front and center for millions of Americans.

From Aol News / Huffpost:

Aaron Pace Says Indiana Blood Center Rejected Him For Appearing Gay

A straight man who tried donating blood at a Gary, Indiana blood center was reportedly turned away recently--because employees of the center thought he was gay.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Aaron Pace, 22, is "admittedly and noticeably effeminate," but still a heterosexual man. In any case, when he visited Bio-Blood Components Inc. in Gary, which pays for blood and plasma donations, he was told he could not be a donor because he “appears to be a homosexual.”

Bio-Blood would not respond to the Sun-Times for comment, but allegedly are taking advantage of an outdated federal law that was upheld in 2010.

CNN has more on the FDA ban:

Current FDA rules dictate that any man who has had sex with another man since 1977, even once, cannot donate blood. This rule has been in place since the early 1980s, when there were no tests in existence for identifying HIV-positive blood. Concerns about HIV tainting the blood supply prompted this policy, viewed as a safety measure.

Current law requires all donated blood to be tested for HIV and other infectious diseases, which is why gay activists and even the American Red Cross have called for the “medically and scientifically unwarranted" ban to be lifted. Also, most blood centers ask male donors if they have had sex with men during the screening process--which Bio-Blood reportedly did not do, instead they just presumed he was gay.

A 2010 study by the Williams Institute showed that if the FDA would lift its gay blood ban, nation's blood supply would be increased by 200,000 pints per year.

Still, when the Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety had a chance to lift the ban last year, they voted to uphold it, citing inadequate research surrounding high-risk donations. After the ban was upheld, the Red Cross expressed disappointment, saying they supported "rational, scientifically-based deferral periods that are applied fairly and consistently among donors who engage in similar risk activities."

As for Pace, he told the Sun-Times he was "humiliated and embarrassed," and expressed frustration with the hypocrisy of the ban. Read more about his experience here.

In the Reagan era, there were both gay and straight people who were contracting HIV, there was so much we did not know about the illness.  But now we do understand the behaviors related to contracting the disease; the phrase safe sex is widely understood.

In our era, we have not only methods to test for the retrovirus in our blood supply; we have cures of AIDS and HIV through stem cell treatment.  We are finally on the threshold of a practical, effective vaccine for it, modifying SIV, the version of HIV which affects other primates.  And we have two anti-viral pills which we can use more effectively than anything we had in the Reagan era to prevent transmission.
HIV is still a terrible plague on our planet, but our ability to test for it, to treat it, to control it has advanced in the years since this prohibition was put in place.  So has our understanding of human sexuality, which we now to know to be largely innate.  We now understand that it is not our sexual orientation that is the risk, but rather specific high risk behaviors.  That this happened to a man who wanted to donate blood is a sign of lingering stupid homophobia, much like that we are still seeing promoted in right wing politics.  That we could still have this prohibition in place, when we need blood donations is against our public health interest, it is cutting off our own nose to spite our face, based solely on ignorance and prejudice.  We should be encouraging anyone who is healthy and not high risk to be giving blood, not discriminating on sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation.