By Rebecca Childs | Entertainment editor, Staff writer
Who doesn’t want to be a hero? At Indian Trail’s blood drives, many did. Last fall, they took the lengthy nervous walk down the hall, to the Upper Gym filled with tables and walled-in clinical chairs. Some walked in groups, others walked alone. One man sat down to give blood, but then he answered the questionnaire.
‘From 1977 to the present have you had sexual contact with another male, even once?’
He answered yes. Because of this, he was deemed unsatisfactory to give blood. He was sent away and banned for life, because he is gay.
“[I was] surprised and confused mostly,” he said. “The ban assumes all gay men are HIV positive which is completely untrue and discriminatory.” A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy mandates that any man who has had sexual relations with another man be barred from giving blood, for life.
Indian Trail’s blood drives allow the community to come together for a cause, and IT has hosted two blood drives in the 2013-14 school year. The October drive raised 86 units and saved over 250 lives and the February drive 81 units and 243 lives.
Although 81 units were raised and 243 lives saved, there could have been more heroes.
“Personally I didn’t bother to sign up [for February’s blood drive] because of what happened.” However, he supports the idea of hosting blood drives at schools “because that manner of help can save lives.”
The Blood Center of Wisconsin and Indian Trail’s National Honor Society come together to put on the school blood drives, and FDA regulation hurts their efforts as well. One man was turned away in October, and one donor turned away equals three lives.
NHS Vice-President Kristin Moore volunteered at the blood drive, but was also unable to donate blood, but not because of that FDA policy.
“I was actually really upset,” said Kristin Moore.
“The past couple times I’ve tried to give, my hemoglobin was too low, and I was not able to give. I was hoping I would try again at school and my iron count would be high enough, but I was just way too sick,” she said.
“I honestly don’t know enough about HIV/AIDS to say if being a homosexual male makes any difference,” said the Vice-President, “however, I feel that, unless the person is aware of or believed to have AIDS, they should be able to donate.”
“Sexual preference means nothing when you’re saving lives, and that is what you’re doing when giving blood,” said Moore.
“Current scientific data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that, as a group, men who have sex with other men are at a higher risk for transmitting infectious diseases or HIV than are individuals in other risk categories,” reads FDA.gov in defense of its controversial policy.
The FDA instituted a policy relating to gay donors first in 1983 at the height of the AIDS epidemic. There was no way to accurately screen for HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, so instead gay men were simply disallowed from donating.
Today, we have the technology that has reduced the chances of getting HIV from blood transfusions down to 1 in 2 million or less than 1 percent. Nations such as Great Britain and Japan have already removed their lifetime bans on gay males, deeming them lower risk than in the 1980s.
The United States persists.
Russia currently has no ban at all, but is considering reinstating a life-long ban, mirroring the position of the United States. In Washington, D.C., Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin is leading the fight to repeal the controversial FDA policy, and has been hard against it since 2013. However, some Wisconsin residents believe the policy is relevant.
An Indian Trail senior who donated at the fall blood drive as well as Tremper’s annual blood drive agrees.
“I do not think homosexual men should be able to donate as well as those who are sexually promiscuous. Unless they have without a doubt proof that they are STI/STD free, they shouldn’t be able to donate,” he said.
“The risk is too high. To save someone’s life only to kill them in a more miserable way is brutal and cruel. As I stand now, I do believe they should not be able to donate, however sexual promiscuity is really what needs to be banned, but is a far more difficult factor to determine,” he said.
“If the risk is higher, accepting blood to be tested is just a waste of time,” said another student.
Moore commended the donors and attempted donors. “I am really proud of everyone that tried to donate. It takes courage,” she said.
Another Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 school, Tremper High School recently made headlines on March 13 by beating the Wisconsin state record for largest drive conducted for the Blood Center. A record of over 800 donors and 732 units collected is only diminished by those who could not.