The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
Donating blood helps transfusion recipients receive the blood they need. A lesser known fact is that not everyone is eligible to participate in this act.
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point holds two blood drives per semester. The next drive will be held on April 25-26 in the Dreyfus University Center.
Each semester two agencies, The Blood Center of Wisconsin and The American Red Cross, partner with UWSP to hold blood drives.
Before donating, students answer questions that determine if they are eligible to donate blood.
Gay and bi-sexual men, on campus and across the country, face more restrictions when it comes to donating blood than people of other sexual orientations.
The American Red Cross states on their website, redcross.org, that due to the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations, men must abstain from having sexual contact with other men for at least 12 months in order to be eligible to donate.
All U.S. agencies that collect donated blood are required to adhere to this regulation. Blood donations undergo extensive testing to make sure that the blood is safe for patients, which is why there is confusion over the FDA’s regulation.
This regulation prevents many men who would otherwise donate from doing so. The American Red Cross’s website also conveys that lesbians and bi-sexual females do not have these same restrictions.
Robert McGrady, freshman theater and art major, identifies as gay and is not eligible to donate blood because of the FDA’s current regulation.
McGrady believes that part of the reason gay men face blood donation restrictions is because instances of HIV increased within the community towards the end of the 20th century.
McGrady strongly opposes the blood donation restrictions.
“If you think it, about a man that has been married to another man for 20 years and has only had sex with his husband cannot donate blood. But a straight man that has unprotected sex all the time can donate blood,” McGrady said.
McGrady has never tried to donate blood because he knows he is not eligible, but admits that he would donate if given the opportunity.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize that there is still a long way to go when it comes to the rights of gay people in America. Especially because a lot of blood donation agencies are desperate for donations, it’s in such high demand, to cut off this portion of the population seems counterintuitive,” McGrady said.
Though McGrady has never donated, he is friends with someone that is passionate about donating. His friend was previously a regular blood donor until he lost eligibility after having sexual contact with a man.
“I’m just saddened whenever I think about this sort of thing because it makes me feel worse about myself and my place in this community and it just reminds me of how far we have to go,” McGrady said.
Caroline Chalk
Reporter
cchal845@uwsp.edu
