First there was blood, semen and marrow; now men who have had sex with other men in the last five years are prohibited from donating their vital organs. Last week's decision by the Canadian Health Ministry comes a year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration upheld a ban on gay blood and semen donors.
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Did you know gay men cannot donate blood? here's why
Did you know gay men are banned from donating semen? more
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Bill Wall, head of the multi-organ transplant program at London Health Sciences Centre, justified the vital organ ban during a Canadian Broadcast Company interview:
"The intent of the guidelines is to prevent communicable disease [from] being transmitted from a potential donor to potential organ recipients."This same rationale used by both Canadian and U.S. health officials is aimed at promiscuous gay men, but ignores monogamous gays at lower risk. For example, under the law, neither you nor your boyfriend can donate organs to each other even even if you've been in a monogamous relationship over the last five years. The legislation also turns a blind eye to promiscuous heterosexual donors.
"In the past, the gay community was considered a high-risk community because of a perception of high-risk behavior," Gary Levy, director of the multi-organ transplant program for the University Health Network in Toronto, told the National Post. "We now know it's not a homogeneous community. The fact is, if someone has 62 partners, whether its heterosexual or homosexual, there still is a risk."According to Levy, there are over 4,000 people on Canada's transplant waiting list. The new bans will turn away 7 out of every 100 perspective donors.
Is the ban on gay men's blood, semen and now vital organs a health concern or another form of discrimination?
Image © Scol22.
I can’t choose to be heterosexual. It seems I can’t choose to help save a life either.
I think it is a discrimination. I wonder what they do to heterosexuals who’ve had sex with bisexuals who’ve had sex with the same sex.
Incredible… Will this ever stop?
…And in Canada of all places.
Dayum! What do they expect us in Nigeria to do then…
Cant believe this. I hope its not true
i think that’s another form of discrimination…
in fact, USA always said that’s is a free country with many oportunites, but i think this is a lie…
I’m spanish and there’s more freedom that there…
In Spain, the loyal defence the marriage and the adoption and it’s excellent!!
A lot Of Kisses from Palencia (Castilla y León, España)
it is discrimination – in an attempt to save lives, not poison them with AIDS. I’ve known hemophiliac children condemned with HIV because of the blood donations of AIDS carriers. Perversion leads to death.
@Irvin: Elaborate on “”perversion”".
Any person who has a disease deserves to be “discriminated” against from donating blood or organs ; merely in this case, it’s like banning all heterosexuals from donating organs or blood. *Obviously* they’re at a high risk for every other nonHIV/AIDS disease and thus shouldn’t be doing anything to spread their diseases.
Right?
@the children: you’re not in the Ignorant Eighties, are you ? You do know that heterosexuals have HIV and AIDS also ? With this ban, every next hemophiliac and HIV/AIDS’d child is because of heterosexuals ! Fathom that !
it is really discrimination. it’s totally unfair. not all gay men have AIDS.
As a Canadian living in the US I’ve always praised on the fair treatment of homosexuals in my country. This news brings me great grief on my trust in the canadian health ministry. They shouldn’t judge the donor base on his or her sexual orientation. It is a myth to continue to stereotype the LGBT community a nest of STD and STD related infections. As a blood and organ donor, I’m very disappointed with the Canadian Government.
Yes, we should judge the donor on health not sexual orentation.
This is too absurd…MOST gay men are perfectly healthy…I feel quite confident when I assume that there are many people waiting on transplant lists that would be very happy to accept organs from healthy gay people, regardless of their opinions about sexual orientation…It is amazing what people can get past when their own life is in jeopardy…I don’t know how this type of discrimination can still be legal in the modern world.
Michael Travis Jasper
author of the novel, “To Be Chosen”
how about testing the organs/blood/etc Before you put it into someone? hmm?? this just implies how dangerous it is for people if they have to ban gay men because they cannot test properly
woww thats so meann.. how come gay people can’t like woww… just because they’re gay ?? or is it cause like of heath issues.. cuzz thats really discriminating either way !?!?!
this is discrimination,because gay poeple are just that people like any other human being i dont understand why this hate for gay people ,it would be like saing that women and men are not allowed to have children or when they can have them that would be stupit because its a personal choise non of other peoples busness.
it is “not” discrimination, it is intended to protect potential transplant recipiants.