Protesting when the FDA says 'no'
Students lead silent protest against FDA regulations that say gay men can't give blood
Katy Weaver
Issue date: 5/15/08 Section: News
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Yesterday, a group of students and community members united to protest against the American Red Cross, Food and Drug Administration and the Blood Drive Association's regulations which prevent gay men from giving blood.
The protest was organized and led by Nicholas Rhodes, a junior in speech communication.
"I told people that I was turned away at the blood drive because I was gay, and none of the people knew or had heard that they did that," Rhodes said. "That is when I decided I needed to let people know about this."
According to the FDA website, "Men who have had sex with other men (MSM), at any time since 1977 (the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the United States) are currently deferred as blood donors.
"This is because MSM are, as a group, at increased risk for HIV, hepatitis B and certain other infections that can be transmitted by transfusion," said the website.
The FDA regulations are nothing but discriminatory, according to Rhodes
"All gay blood is refused. If you are a man who has sex with a man, even once since 1977, you are assumed to have HIV. Even women who have had sex with a man who has had sex with a man can't give blood. I'm not trying to say anything bad about the Red Cross, but regulations need to change to say a 'person,' not a gay man."
Erika McQuillen, the BDA president at OSU and junior in civil engineering, said that the ARC and BDA are advocates for change, but cannot do anything until the FDA changes its policies.
McQuillen also stressed that although they might not be able to give blood, the protesters can help the blood drive through volunteering.
"We have spoken with some of the people protesting and we want to hold forums and create an action plan to help them and have them help us," McQuillen said.
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Mikhelle Gattone
posted 5/15/08 @ 8:18 AM PST
What an interesting statement by Erika McQuillen because her thought is that we should just volunteer our time to help, but not our blood. This sounds so discriminatory and familiar to the other policies (past and present) made on the LGBT community that tries to give a "separate but equal" ideology. (Continued…)
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