Response to "Campus blood drives seek donations, but gays are banned"
Gary Lowell
Issue date: 11/9/07 Section: Opinion
In the October 27, 2007 article entitled "Campus blood drives seek donations, but gays are banned" it was said how gays are not allowed to donate blood. It quoted many people as saying they were against the policy because it discriminated against gays. The leader of the GLBTA program at BSC is said to think the policy is discriminatory, and one person is quoted in the article as saying "I don't know how one questionnaire can determine some one's ability to give blood." Another person is quoted as saying "AIDS doesn't just happen to gay people. It can happen to anyone," while another said "I don't think it's fair to assume that if you are gay you live the kind of lifestyle that leads to AIDS."
The program is not in place to discriminate against gays at all. It is a statistical fact that more gays have AIDS proportionately than do non-gays. This policy is not it place to discriminate against gays, it is in place to help prevent the spread of AIDS. The policy does not in fact assume that if you are gay you live the type of lifestyle that will lead to AIDS. It just sees a correlation between people who are gays and those who have AIDS.
This is the policy that was initiated to help combat the spread of AIDS, which was facilitated by blood transfusions from people with AIDS. A better policy would be one where every person is tested for any diseases before he/she is allowed to give blood. Those tests may be expensive to perform on every blood donor, I do not know. The current policy of banning gays from donating blood may have been the only economically feasible solution. Either way, in a perfect world, every person donating blood would be tested for AIDS before they give blood, and gays would not be banned. It is important to remember, though, that the current policy is not in place to discriminate. It is in place to help prevent the spread of AIDS.
The program is not in place to discriminate against gays at all. It is a statistical fact that more gays have AIDS proportionately than do non-gays. This policy is not it place to discriminate against gays, it is in place to help prevent the spread of AIDS. The policy does not in fact assume that if you are gay you live the type of lifestyle that will lead to AIDS. It just sees a correlation between people who are gays and those who have AIDS.
This is the policy that was initiated to help combat the spread of AIDS, which was facilitated by blood transfusions from people with AIDS. A better policy would be one where every person is tested for any diseases before he/she is allowed to give blood. Those tests may be expensive to perform on every blood donor, I do not know. The current policy of banning gays from donating blood may have been the only economically feasible solution. Either way, in a perfect world, every person donating blood would be tested for AIDS before they give blood, and gays would not be banned. It is important to remember, though, that the current policy is not in place to discriminate. It is in place to help prevent the spread of AIDS.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Thomas Gordon
posted 9/20/09 @ 10:34 PM EST
Firstly, all blood donated is tested for HIV/AIDS before it is given to anyone, so preventing members of the GLBT community is clearly discriminatory and only succeeding in perpetuating a negative stereotype. (Continued…)
Gary Lowell
posted 9/21/09 @ 11:01 PM EST
The article I wrote this in response to gave me the impression that people thought the policy was in place solely to discriminate against gays. I felt at the time that, although it did discriminate, that that was not the sole purpose of the policy. (Continued…)
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