Is it true that gay people are not allowed to donate blood?

I would of thought they would be allowed with equality laws these days
everyone has to have HIV tests n all that before they donate so if its clear there's no reason why they can't

 

i've done some research and yes gays are aloud to donate blood like everyone else (of course with checks on STI's ect) if it true that they are not aloud then what the f-

 

No, having common sense would understand that everyone has the same chance of getting an std or HIV. And to be honest, I would say I have a smaller chance of getting it because I am gay as compared to a straight man.

I'll explain.... I'm in the closet, ergo I have no sexual relationships with any man out of fear of coming out. Meanwhile, Joe straight has been banging 3 chicks every night since he was 16..... Joe straight is almost guaranteed to have an std while I'm waiting to come out and find a man I feel comfortable to be myself around and have a sexual and a strong mental relationship

So yes I think it is very homophobic to say that and I think its a supremely dumb question unless you are an uneducated preteen who hasnt had the birds and bees talk, or any kind of sex end in school

 

No, gay men can't donate blood in the US. Technically you can, but you have to lie on the information form that you fill out beforehand where it asks if you've had sex with another man in the past.

 

Well, when I donated blood at school last semester, one of the questions they asked me was "have you had sex with another male recently?"

And me, being taken aback by the question and kinda a lil unsettled by it, I just muttered a meek "no"

And then the lady looked up at me, obviously not hearing me clearly and was like "what'd you say?"

And I gave her a more clearer and firmer "no"

Heh, but the lady was cool, she was just following standard protocol

 

the NHS says

Before donating blood, you will be asked to fill out a confidential donor health check form. You need to fill out this form to make sure your blood is suitable for donation.

Not everyone can donate blood. This is to ensure those people receiving the blood are not exposed to any harmful viruses or infections.

You may not be able to donate blood if:

you have had a serious illness or major surgery in the past
you have had complicated dental work (it is safe to donate blood 24 hours after having a filling or seven days after a simple extraction)
you have recently come into contact with an infectious disease
you have had certain immunisations within the last four weeks
you are currently on a hospital waiting list, or waiting to have tests

You should not donate blood for 12 months after having sex with:

a prostitute
someone who has injected drugs
someone who has haemophilia (a condition that stops your blood from clotting normally)
someone who has been sexually active in parts of the world where AIDS and HIV are common, such as sub-Saharan Africa
a man who has had oral or anal sex with another man (if you are female)
a man (if you are male) - see below

You should never donate blood if:

you have ever had HIV
you have ever had hepatitis C
you have ever had syphilis
you have ever had Human T - lymphotropic virus (HTLV)
you have ever injected yourself with drugs
you have ever worked as a prostitute

 

Yes it is really true. I couldn't believe it either. But apparently gay people are just so rife with AIDS that even the lab tests they do on each blood donation can't keep the HIV out! Well, the tests can weed out straight HIV+ blood, but not gay HIV+ blood.

Makes sense, right?

 

Men who have sex with men supposedly have a higher risk of contracting a std. And, HIV and probably other diseases and infections don't necessarily show up on blood tests right away, so obviously the most logical means of preventing possible contamination is to prevent all MSM from donating blood. To me it isn't a matter of extreme importance but it would be nice to give back every once in a while.

 

HIV and other diseases don't always show up on bloods tests right away, you are correct. Yet, I highly doubt anyone would be given a blood donation unless the medical staff were absolutely sure that the blood is safe. So that eliminates the need to discriminate MSM, because any HIV+ blood sample will be identified as such before being given to a recipient.

Do you really think they would risk giving a straight person's blood to someone if they were unsure of the HIV status because they didn't want to wait for results?

 

I just hope that artificial blood will be coming to hospitals soon. Testing fresh blood is not always enough.

 

I'm gay and I give blood. It's not gays that shouldn't be allowed, it's people that have unprotected sex. I personally haven't had sex, so I see no reason why me being gay means I shouldn't be able to donate blood and save lives.

 

The answer depends on where you are. In the US, technically, if you are male and have had sex with a male, you are permanently deffered from giving blood. There is a disparity, though. There have been pushes to relax it to after a certain waiting period (such as there is for females who have had sex with males who had sex with other males). It is little known that you can request to have a permanent defferal placed on your info, so they stop calling. I did this since the only time I successfully filled the bag was the very first time, and I almost passed out. I tried donating about a dozen times after, and never filled the bag, usually only getting about halfway there, and still nearly passed out each time.

 

The NHS people who deal with blood donations are an absolute nightmare.

NEVER give them contact details, they literally hounded me for 6 months until I got my family solicitor to actually write to them.

They kept asking why I couldn't donate blood and I kept refusing to tell them for about 2 months.

In the end I just kept on saying 'i like bumming' along with another choice words.

Personally, I think it's absolutely ridiculous.
If the people screening the blood do their jobs properly, what's their to worry about?

I know they're trying to save money by turning away people who are most likely infected with things. But I imagine a lot more usable blood would be donated if they lightened up a little.

 

I give blood any chance I can at Red Cross blood drives...

On the test they do have questions -
Have you ever had sex with someone who is the same sex as you.
Have you ever had sex with a man who has had sex with another man. (for females)

I am almost certain if you say yes to these questions they will turn you down...
I haven't had sex so I'm still good to give, but I agree it is completely bogus...

 

Um...
If I remember correctly, there -have- been treatments been worked on for HIV, but diagnosis still seems to be difficult

 

Such treatments have worked to reduce the amount of HIV in a person, sometimes even to levels that are dificult/impossible to detect, however, when those treatments have been stopped, after the drugs wear off, the HIV comes back pretty much like someone who was newly infected. This is why a person is always stopped from donating if it is known that they were ever diagnosed with HIV. The reduced levels of HIV even make it less likely for them to spread it via unprotected casual encounters, however the most effective way of spreading HIV is to share blood, as even a few virus particles (hard to call them cells, since they don't live independently) can cause a full HIV infection, especially if their health is already questionable (as basically any blood recipient is)

 

Thats exactly right.and to the other previous post regarding the questions. Its not a matter of your sexual orientation, but rather protocols of ensuring HIV doesnt spread.

i love the gay guys ( not that way,) but if i were the one receiving blood id want to make sure that it is free of diseases.

 

Maybe we should ALL donate as much gay blood as possible so we can spread The Gay to everyone in the world.

Because, you know, it's all a part of our diabolical plan, remember?