by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Student Marshall Martinez decided to do his part to help victims of Hurricane Katrina by donating blood.
However, a United Blood Services worker told Martinez, who is gay, that he had a permanent deferral on his name, which means he can never donate blood.
The deferral was on his name because during a screening interview to donate blood several years ago, he told the interviewer he had sex with a man.
Martinez, who is also a sex educator in Alamogordo, said it is wrong not to let gay men donate blood.
"I'm expected to be a good American," he said. "I'm expected to help out, but I can't even give blood. Gay men are one of the few demographics still OK to discriminate against."
According to the Food and Drug Administration's Web site, any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 is not allowed to donate blood, because gay men are at high risk of carrying HIV. The FDA regulates the national blood supply.
Brenda McKee, donor recruitment supervisor at United Blood Services, said the policy is not meant to be discriminatory. She said its sole purpose is to keep the blood supply as clean as possible.
"It's more of a risk in the lifestyle as far as HIV," she said. "It's just to keep the blood supply safe."
Martinez said it is unnecessary to permanently ban gay men from donating blood, because all blood donated is tested for HIV.
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McKee said not accepting blood from gay men, intravenous drug users or anyone who has had sex for money since 1977 is an additional protection.
"We test every unit of blood, but it keeps it safer in case one slips by," she said.
According to the FDA Web site, the tests are not always accurate. Someone who has HIV can test negative for up to two months after being infected, so blood banks also must use interviews to screen for potentially infected donors, according to the site.
Student Airth Locke said someone's sexual orientation should not determine if they can give blood.
"As long as they test all the blood, it really shouldn't matter," she said. "If they have HIV, that's what the tests are for."
Martinez said the policy - which was instituted in 1983, when gay men represented a large portion of HIV cases - is now outdated.
He said it is a good idea to keep the blood supply safe by not letting people who engage in high-risk behavior donate, but it is discriminatory to assume that being gay is risky.
He said he would like the question to be reworded.
"Instead of 'Have you had sex with a man since 1977?' the question should be, 'Have you had unprotected sex with anybody in the last six months?'" he said.
Student Alyson Deakyne agreed.
"It seems like the policy's kind of outdated," she said. "Maybe it made sense in the '80s, but I don't think it matters now whether you're gay or not."
According to the FDA Web site, blood from gay men is still more likely to be infected.
"Although a potential individual donor may practice safe sex, persons who have participated in high-risk behaviors are, as a group, still considered to be at increased risk of transmitting HIV," the Web site states. "Safe sex practices reduce, but do not eliminate, the risk of the transmission of AIDS."
According to 2003 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, 67 percent of men in the United States with HIV have had sex with another man.
McKee said she appreciates Martinez's efforts to help hurricane victims, and said he should call her if he has any questions about why he cannot give blood.
"We're so grateful for his intent to donate," she said. "If the policy ever changes we will be more than happy to have him donate, but right now that's where we stand."
