Why are gay men barred from donating blood?
in Health ·
Permanent Donor Deferral:
1. Individuals who have suffered from or are currently battling severe chronic respiratory or digestive diseases, cardiovascular issues, malignant cancers, liver disease, AIDS, diabetes, or neurological and psychiatric disorders are permanently barred from donating.
2. Permanent deferral also applies to those engaging in high-risk behaviors:
- alcoholics or drug users,
- men who have had sexual contact with other men,
- men or women who have had sexual contact with sex workers,
- individuals with multiple sexual partners,
- anyone who has ever used drugs intravenously,
- people treated for sexually transmitted infections (like syphilis or gonorrhea),
- HIV-positive individuals,
- any sexual partners of the aforementioned groups.
I don’t even get why everyone is losing their minds over the stuff about gay men when I’m sitting here looking at this one rule that is way more idiotic—specifically that very last point.
So, basically, if you want to donate blood, you're permanently banned if you:
- once slept with an alcoholic,
- once slept with a man who has *ever* had a homosexual encounter,
- once slept with someone who has *ever* been with a sex worker (and yeah, that logic extends to you if you're a woman who slept with a woman who once slept with a woman who was a sex worker....) 🤣
- once slept with someone who (say, a long time ago) was cured of an STI (since they just lump all STIs into one giant bucket anyway)...
At this rate, they might as well add one more requirement to the list:
- permanent deferral for anyone who has ever slept with someone whose entire life history (not just their sexual one, but everything!) you don't know down to the absolute smallest detail...
It’s absolutely wild... 🙄