Is it fair that homosexual men cannot give blood?

[Kardan]

Technically homosexual males can give blood, providing they haven't had any form of sexual contact with another male. Is this fair? Personally, I think it is extremely unfair.

Statement on why homosexual males cannot give blood.

My argument is that HIV/AIDS is prevalent in the whole of society nowadays, in fact looking at the statistics for 2007 35% of new diagnoses were homosexual or bisexual and 47% were heterosexual. There are about 25,000 undiagnosed individuals though and then the homosexual or bisexual males who contracted HIV while it was rife in the homosexual/bisexual communities is still considerable. The last official figure was that 43% of gay / bisexual men are currently living in the UK with HIV and 52% of heterosexual men are currently living in the UK with HIV. Therefore, the National Blood Service's statement on why homosexual males cannot give blood is now obsolete as, at the time, the basis for their exclusion was that homosexual males accounted for 63% off all those diagnosed.

What are your opinions?

Sorry, what? 52% of straight men have HIV? That can't be true, that's way higher than I expected. Seriously, I'm pretty sure it's not 1 in 2 straight men have HIV.

As for the discussion, yes, homosexual men should be able to donate blood. Tests are carried out on the blood anyway to make sure it's safe for use, right? Why can't that be done for blood donated by gay men? :S

[kk.]

Sorry, what? 52% of straight men have HIV? That can't be true, that's way higher than I expected. Seriously, I'm pretty sure it's not 1 in 2 straight men have HIV.

As for the discussion, yes, homosexual men should be able to donate blood. Tests are carried out on the blood anyway to make sure it's safe for use, right? Why can't that be done for blood donated by gay men? :S

Nah, he means people with HIV. not all straight men,

and as i have said, its not always 100%, and as there are more gay men than straight with HIV, it would be mroe likely that a gay HIV man wouldnt get found.. if that makes sense lol

[RandomManJay]

Tests are carried out on the blood anyway to make sure it's safe for use, right? Why can't that be done for blood donated by gay men? :S

I've already posted on this, but just to reiterate . The blood tests are only used to discover the possibility of contamination, so if any blood is suggested to contain a virus etc. it then goes through a series of tests which then prove if its actually contaminated, so gay men who give blood who don't know they have HIV will cause a lot of problems when it comes to testing as more tests will be used and additional funding will be needed for that and the safe disposal of the contaminated blood, also with the funding for more medication for those who will have found out they're HIV positive from giving blood. I know that it would be best to incorporate better testing (saving lives etc.), but at this time its just easier to deny the donation to be honast :S.

[Japan]

He is just stating his opinion, while i'm gay myself (pretty sure anyway ) I accept people are not comfortable with homosexuality, bisexuality and a range of different things. We live in a democracy and people should be allowed to say what they want, aslong as its not on the edges of all out hatred.

Well that isn't fair. He's talking about homosexuality like it's a disease or something disgusting.

And @beanegg- what is the difference between straight sex and gay sex? When it's all boiled down it's pretty much the same thing- just in different places.

[Xoim]

Tbh.. it's the 21st century.
And everyone now-a-days are coming out which I think is cool.

Problem is I dislike homophobes.
Although ... I do realise I have to get used to it tbh.

A can't really add much more to what Undertaker said.

And the fact that all blood given has the same risk off being hiv positive. and Blood is given anonymously so tbh you wouldn't know if the guy was gay or straight.

And @Bean Straight guys can Have **** with a girl... Does It make it acceptable for a girl to take it up there but not a man.

[Japan]

I really don't understand why some people have a problem with homosexuals.
We are not in the dark ages, please get with the times.

[RandomManJay]

I really don't understand why some people have a problem with homosexuals.
We are not in the dark ages, please get with the times.

Homosexuality was only legalised about 40 years ago, and it does take time for something to be accepted which was repressed to such a degree that it was illegal as well as being considered a mental illness and the work of the devil. Also the last generation was involved in the outbreak of HIV/AIDS and the media controversy over AIDS being the 'Gay Plague', instilling fear and hatred for homosexuality. So if these values are passed down, they may be less influencial in the modern age, but they are still there and until they loose all influence, those values will stick around.

[GommeInc]

To put simple, would you like blood from someone who's giving other males blow-jobs or even having **** sex? No!

So I think its fair.

Men can give women **** and oral sex.... Infact, I can use this against you. Would you want your blood coming from a woman who has given a man a blow job? It's the same thing

[Jay.]

To be honest, I think it's unfair. It's a little stereotypical if you ask me. If I was to give you a figure, lets say, "67% of women make mistakes in the nursing department" (Random figure) would the NHS then ban women from applying to that job? Of course not. I think this is the same issue, just because a lot of homosexual people have a specific virus, does not mean they should be treated unfairly. If they're asking the world to donate blood, let more people eligible.

(And I'm not even homosexual, so it's not a biased view.

[DJ-Ains.T]

I'm never giving blood nor organs. They are mine, and no one elses. If they don't have enough, it's tough. Africans die daily, many of them, it's unfair to them, us saving someone else when they could be saved, many of them.

Also, I think males should be able to give blood, if they are gay, bi, straight, as long as they are clean. Just like sperm.