Blood and bigots

Yoiks. I keep running to catch up. Like here, with the ban on gay male blood donors. As earlier, I don't have a problem with the blood ban itself. An Advocate reporter recently dug about, and Jonathan Adler "finds... evidence that the ban has a solid rationale -- no matter how poorly it's expressed." And the American and Canadian blood supplies are closely linked.

But that just means that Canadian Blood Services needs to try harder, to smarten up and visibly include gay men in its other volunteer recruitment campaigns. I demanded this a year ago. Did it happen? No.

PR guy Ron Vezina spouts some platitudes about how pamphlets and advertising is directed at everyone, but we all know what that means: Nothing. And that is the real homophobia at Canadian Blood Services.

For the other side: the Canadian AIDS Society doesn't like the ban. Its policy was passed unanimously at an AGM in 1999, according to media relations officer Mark Creighan. Their policy sez: "Whereas the current donor screening process used by the Canadian Blood Service is outdated and discriminatory implying risk of HIV infection is dependent on membership/association with particular population, rather than on risk behaviours and activities, and whereas such misleading characterization and misinformation contributes to a greater public health risk and further stigmatizes these populations. Be it resolved that the Canadian AIDS Society  continue to work with the Canadian Blood Service and the Health Protection Branch to reform the donor screening process to reflect current HIV transmission.

"CAS believes that Blood Services should target activity which puts people at risk and not groups. It is the activity of unprotected insertive and receptive sexual intercourse (anal and vaginal) which puts people at risk. Not the gender of those individuals. For example, oral sex carries a negligible risk of HIV transmission. Not all sex between men is high risk."

No. But gay men are. I'm sorry, but it's true.


ADDENDUM Dec. 13: Ron Vezina reads the blog, discovers I've called his employers a bunch of pigs, and responds: "To begin, please note that we are aware -- and very much appreciate -- that there are Canadians who are unable to donate blood, but who still wish to contribute to the blood system in other ways. Many times, when people have expressed their disappointment about not being able to donate blood, we have provided them with information about becoming a volunteer with Canadian Blood Services. You may be interested to know that many of our volunteers are unable to donate blood and have opted to generously give their time in lieu of blood to save lives. After all, it is not just the blood of donors that saves lives; without our volunteers, we may not have the resources to be able to collect the blood that recipients so desperately need." Er, yes. Where are the ads targeting volunteers from the gay community, which has been made vulnerable because of your ban? What are you specifically doing to mitigate the bigotry that is being engendered by the ban?

"Currently, we have more than 17,000 volunteers across Canada, representing a diverse cross-section of Canadians. As discussed, while we are always looking for more people to volunteer with us, we do not target specific groups of people, opting instead to promote our volunteer program in marketing materials that will be applicable to the general population. As a non-profit organization, I hope that you can appreciate we have limited resources which we must allocate as efficiently as possible. That being said, we happily welcome any individual who has been deferred, regardless of the reason why, to consider becoming a volunteer with Canadian Blood Services. For more information about our volunteer program, interested individuals can visit us online or call 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-236-6283).

"You may also be interested to learn about our Network Centre for Applied Development (NetCAD) in Vancouver. This facility was built in order for us to conduct research on a variety of development concepts aimed at improving the blood system in Canada.

"Because of the nature of our research, it is essential for us to test new products, procedures or equipment on actual blood taken from volunteer donors. Because none of the blood collected at this facility enters the system for transfusion use, we are able to welcome deferred individuals, including men who have had sex with men, to consider donating their blood for research purposes.

"Unfortunately, blood cannot be collected at other Canadian Blood Services sites and shipped to the NetCAD facility; deferred donors must donate in Vancouver. However, we certainly encourage you to inform friends and family in the Vancouver area to contact the NetCAD facility at (604) 221-5515 to book an appointment. I would also be happy to send you a brochure called "How can I give blood for research?," if you would like to reply with your mailing address."