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Red Cross Discimination

Booko

Deviled Hen
I have a few reservations of the choice. It is a very American-Centric choice when this is a forum home to international members. Their discrimination against the GLBT* community also bothers me...

Khalila, this is the first I've heard of any discrimination. Can you give me a brief rundown or point me to a link?

I'm a Doctors Without Borders kinda girl myself.
 

Jaymes

The cake is a lie
Khalila, this is the first I've heard of any discrimination. Can you give me a brief rundown or point me to a link?

I'm a Doctors Without Borders kinda girl myself.
The Red Cross doesn't let gay men donate blood, even if they're in a monogamous relationship and have been tested for HIV... and even though they test all their blood for HIV.
 

Pardus

Proud to be a Sinner.
The Red Cross doesn't let gay men donate blood, even if they're in a monogamous relationship and have been tested for HIV... and even though they test all their blood for HIV.
I'd take gay blood if it made me tolerate shopping more. :D

Tho i can see why they do deny it, i don't like it, but i understand.
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
The Red Cross doesn't let gay men donate blood, even if they're in a monogamous relationship and have been tested for HIV... and even though they test all their blood for HIV.
They also have something against people who were in Germany in the early 1980s and they won't take blood if your tattoo is less than a year old (how they would determine this, I have no idea).
 

Jaymes

The cake is a lie
Ðanisty;921829 said:
They also have something against people who were in Germany in the early 1980s and they won't take blood if your tattoo is less than a year old (how they would determine this, I have no idea).
One of my friends can't donate blood for the first reason; she was born in Germany when her parents were stationed there. IIRC she said it has to do with mad cow disease.

I think there was talk of implementing an "okay you can donate blood if you're gay and haven't had sex with a man for a year" policy, which is beyond ridiculous. Like heterosexual people are somehow magically immune from getting HIV... :areyoucra
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
If they're testing all the blood anyway, I really don't understand why they would put these kind of restrictions on it. The only restrictions on donating blood should be health concerns for the donor...such as high blood pressure or being underweight. Those things can make the actual act of donating a problem for the donor.
 

Jaymes

The cake is a lie
Ðanisty;921876 said:
If they're testing all the blood anyway, I really don't understand why they would put these kind of restrictions on it. The only restrictions on donating blood should be health concerns for the donor...such as high blood pressure or being underweight. Those things can make the actual act of donating a problem for the donor.
The only reasonable restrictions I can think of would be "don't donate if you know you have x" and "don't donate to test for x". Along with "don't donate if it's dangerous to you", of course. You know, rather than painting the entire gay male community with the "you must have HIV!" brush.
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
And I'm just thinking if my hubby contracted Mad Cow disease when he was three years old, he'd probably know by now. He is, afterall, going to be 27 in November. :rolleyes:
 

jamaesi

To Save A Lamb
I'd take gay blood if it made me tolerate shopping more. :D

Tho i can see why they do deny it, i don't like it, but i understand.

I don't see how you could understand it when homosexual men do not have the highest HIV rates, heterosexual black women do. It's discrimination, plan and simple, and discrimination that comes from back in the day when HIV was called Gay Cancer.

Ðanisty;921829 said:
They also have something against people who were in Germany in the early 1980s and they won't take blood if your tattoo is less than a year old (how they would determine this, I have no idea).

It's not something against people who lived in Germany, it's to keep Variant Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease (Mad Cow Disease) out of humans in a the USA- which is a country with no confirmed human cases of it. And it's not something against all who were in Germany between 1980 and 1990- those living on a military base for six months or more OR those who spent five years there between 1980 to 1996.

If they're testing all the blood anyway, I really don't understand why they would put these kind of restrictions on it. The only restrictions on donating blood should be health concerns for the donor...such as high blood pressure or being underweight. Those things can make the actual act of donating a problem for the donor.

You can donate blood after getting a tattoo/piercing if you had it done in a state-regulated facility. Otherwise you need to wait a year and this is done on the honor system. This is to prevent Hep C- which can remain symptomless for decades.


If they're testing all the blood anyway, I really don't understand why they would put these kind of restrictions on it. The only restrictions on donating blood should be health concerns for the donor...such as high blood pressure or being underweight. Those things can make the actual act of donating a problem for the donor.

No system is perfect, it makes sense to keep wildcards out before the testing progress begins. Not to mention things like CJD can not be tested for...





I regularly donate blood, myself, and with the Red Cross, because I'm not going to deny blood to someone who needs it because I don't agree with the messenger's opinions... though mostly I've been doing direct donations for people I work with at the cemetery. I just find it a little odd for that to be the charity of choice for RF.
 

Pardus

Proud to be a Sinner.
I don't see how you could understand it when homosexual men do not have the highest HIV rates, heterosexual black women do. It's discrimination, plan and simple, and discrimination that comes from back in the day when HIV was called Gay Cancer.
You misunderstood me and also proved my point.

The aim is to save lives, even the lives of bigots.

You (should) know for a fact there are people in this world who would refuse blood if they knew it came from homosexual men, now i personally believe that the stupid should die, but i am one of the very few.
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
You can donate blood after getting a tattoo/piercing if you had it done in a state-regulated facility.
I've never even heard of a state-regulated tattoo facility. It must be something that happens outside of Georgia. All of our tattoo shops are regulated by county. I don't see how a county regulation would be any less valid than a state regulation. In Chatham county tattoo shops are regulated by they county health department. Speaking as a person who had to get a tattoo license from the health department's environmental protection department, I can tell you that the regulations are strict and while there is no vaccine for Hep C, we were required to be vaccinated against Hep A and Hep B. We were also required to take a class on blood-born pathogens. If you've had your tattoo work done at any shop that is regulated and inspected in such a way and has passed said inspections, I think you should be able to give blood. I don't see what the state really has to do with it.

Having said all that, they have either changed their forms in the last 5 years or the nice folks here in my region get different forms from everyone else because no mention was ever made of any exceptions to the one-year tattoo rule.

Otherwise you need to wait a year and this is done on the honor system. This is to prevent Hep C- which can remain symptomless for decades.
If it can remain symptomless for decades, then why do they allow you to donate after a year?
 

jamaesi

To Save A Lamb
You misunderstood me and also proved my point.

The aim is to save lives, even the lives of bigots.

You (should) know for a fact there are people in this world who would refuse blood if they knew it came from homosexual men, now i personally believe that the stupid should die, but i am one of the very few.

Excuse me? I'm not saying anyone should be denied a donation, I'm just saying that there is no real reason to bar homosexual men from donating blood. I'm also not an idiot and know people will make false martyrs of themselves- but in most cases where you need a blood transfusion you're too far gone to consent or hold consent... I certainly was. I have no memory of it- I was in surgery.

However, I know that except for the cases of direct donation- you don't know where the blood is coming from. This is honestly a non-issue, what people think about their blood transfusions and where they are coming from.
 

Pardus

Proud to be a Sinner.
Excuse me? I'm not saying anyone should be denied a donation, I'm just saying that there is no real reason to bar homosexual men from donating blood. I'm also not an idiot and know people will make false martyrs of themselves- but in most cases where you need a blood transfusion you're too far gone to consent or hold consent... I certainly was. I have no memory of it- I was in surgery.
I never said you did say that, i just said you were proving my point, you obviously has not seen someone winning their opponents case.

You do realize doctors will get sued if they give blood to a Jehovah's Witnesses? That is because you can state that you don't want a blood transfusion in your medical record.

Now i know you have probably forgotten that i don't believe this is justified, i have just been stating the reason i believe it exists.
 

jamaesi

To Save A Lamb
I never said you did say that, i just said you were proving my point, you obviously has not seen someone winning their opponents case.

You do realize doctors will get sued if they give blood to a Jehovah's Witnesses? That is because you can state that you don't want a blood transfusion in your medical record.

Now i know you have probably forgotten that i don't believe this is justified, i have just been stating the reason i believe it exists, and you need to be slapped hard if you can't see the difference.

:confused:

This isn't the thread for something like this anyway.
 

MaddLlama

Obstructor of justice
MOD POST

This thread has been split from the thread in Site Feedback
In the future, please do not use that forum for debate
 

Booko

Deviled Hen
Ðanisty;921829 said:
They also have something against people who were in Germany in the early 1980s and they won't take blood if your tattoo is less than a year old (how they would determine this, I have no idea).

The same way they'd determine if I'd had a cortisone shot in less than 1 year -- they just ask.

I've never been able to donate blood. Either my BP was too low and the one time it wasn't I'd had a cortisone shot within 6 months.
 

Booko

Deviled Hen
I don't see how you could understand it when homosexual men do not have the highest HIV rates, heterosexual black women do. It's discrimination, plan and simple, and discrimination that comes from back in the day when HIV was called Gay Cancer.

That's completely demented. Just because someone is a gay man doesn't mean they aren't celibate, and if so they should be allowed to donate in any case. And it's not like IV drug use isn't a huge transmitter of HIV these days. They seem quite behind the times, medically speaking.

And then there's hepatitis, which crosses quite a few boundaries and is very serious letting it get into the blood supply.

If they're testing all the blood anyway, I really don't understand why they would put these kind of restrictions on it. The only restrictions on donating blood should be health concerns for the donor...such as high blood pressure or being underweight. Those things can make the actual act of donating a problem for the donor.

Well, you would think they could cover a lot on the screening form in the same way they screen out anyone who's had cortisone recently.
You can donate blood after getting a tattoo/piercing if you had it done in a state-regulated facility. Otherwise you need to wait a year and this is done on the honor system. This is to prevent Hep C- which can remain symptomless for decades.

This seems contradictory. :confused: Is it that it's symptomless but it takes up to a year for it to show up on lab results? That would at least make a bit of sense.


No system is perfect, it makes sense to keep wildcards out before the testing progress begins. Not to mention things like CJD can not be tested for...





I regularly donate blood, myself, and with the Red Cross, because I'm not going to deny blood to someone who needs it because I don't agree with the messenger's opinions... though mostly I've been doing direct donations for people I work with at the cemetery. I just find it a little odd for that to be the charity of choice for RF.[/quote]
 

Terrywoodenpic

Oldest Heretic
Excuse me? I'm not saying anyone should be denied a donation, I'm just saying that there is no real reason to bar homosexual men from donating blood. I'm also not an idiot and know people will make false martyrs of themselves- but in most cases where you need a blood transfusion you're too far gone to consent or hold consent... I certainly was. I have no memory of it- I was in surgery.

However, I know that except for the cases of direct donation- you don't know where the blood is coming from. This is honestly a non-issue, what people think about their blood transfusions and where they are coming from.

Every drop of blood used here can be traced back to the donor.

Mad cow disease is a problem as it can not be tested for, with a useful degree of certainty. and it can be many years before it makes itself evident in man.
 

methylatedghosts

Can't brain. Has dumb.
I think this begins to beg the question:

If you are homosexual and you wish to donate blood, and you have had blood tested, would you lie about your sexuality in order to donate blood?
 

jamaesi

To Save A Lamb
Every drop of blood used here can be traced back to the donor.

Yes, it's the same here, but the person receiving it has no idea where it came from. I don't know from whom the blood used in my transfusion came from but I'm eternally grateful to them, whoever they are.

I think this begins to beg the question:

If you are homosexual and you wish to donate blood, and you have had blood tested, would you lie about your sexuality in order to donate blood?

Yes.

My blood type is the universal type. I haven't HIV/AIDs. It's really a crappy situation, but I daresay saving lives is more important.
 
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