Kenosha---Not all learning takes place in a classroom.
At a recent Carthage College blood drive, senior Sean Kelly ran head-long into a controversy involving the donation of blood by gay men. In many cases, he learned, it’s not allowed.
Blood centers may only accept blood from gay and bisexual men who’ve remained celibate for at least a year. The new Food & Drug Administration rule replaces one that prohibited such donations outright.
Kelly, who is gay, had no idea. "Leaving the donation site, I was just so sick to my stomach," said Kelly, adding that he only wanted to help. "I'm not a person who breaks down in tears, but I was just so angered and I knew I needed to do something."
Kelly began by educating himself, and then he launched a Facebook campaign.
Kelly believes all gay and bisexual men should be allowed to donate blood if they can prove that they’re H-I-V free. "I've done a lot of thinking on this," he says.
The controversial restriction is in place as a pre-donation safeguard on top of testing that’s done on each pint of blood that’s collected.
Kelly and others in the gay community believe the F-D-A’s rule is harmful to gay and bisexual men because it perpetuates the stigma that H-I-V is a gay disease. They argue it's not needed.
The various entities that collect blood on behalf of hospitals have no choice but to follow the FDA rules and question donors about their sexual orientation and habits.
Blood centers try to make the best of it, whether or not they agree with the rule. "The exclusion is not based on their (donors') preferences as much as it is on a risk behavior that maybe was identified years ago," says Linda Gruber, Dir. of Donor Services for the Blood Center of Wisconsin.
Both Kelly and Gruber spoke on a recent edition of The Morning Show.
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