The complaint by Matt Pohl that the American Red Cross Blood Drive violates the University's anti-discrimination policy raises a much larger question. What constitutes discrimination? Does a behavior define a group, and as a result are rules that limit the actions of people who engage in that behavior discriminatory against that group?
Matt Pohl claims that people define their sexual orientation by the sexual partners they choose. The existence of groups such as Men who have sex with Men (MSM), however, presents an antithesis to Pohl's view. According the University of California San Francisco AIDS Research Institute, "MSM refers to any man who has sex with a man, whether he identifies as gay, bisexual or heterosexual."
The American Red Cross does not discriminate by sexual orientation, but creates restrictions by behavior. It decides who can and who cannot donate blood by following an extensive list of eligibility guidelines, which, assuming the donor answers every question truthfully, will ensure that the blood supply is completely and entirely safe.
A guideline added in 1996 states "persons who were born in or who lived in certain countries in Western Africa, or who have had close contact with persons who were born in or who lived in certain West African countries are not eligible to donate." It is unreasonable for anyone to claim that the Red Cross is discriminatory against West Africans and even people who are friends of West Africans; rather the ban exists because that part of the world is stricken with the HIV virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 1997 HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report found that same sex sexual behavior accounts for 63 percent of AIDS cases for males ages 20 to 24. This statistic does not imply that gay men are likely to have AIDS, but that men with AIDS were likely to have gotten it because of their sexual behavior. Gay men who do not have sex with other men are allowed to donate blood. Straight men who have had sex with other men, even if only once since 1977, are not allowed to donate blood. It is not about one's sexual orientation, in or out of the closet, but about one's behavior.
The Red Cross must reject a donor who has been exposed to any virus transmittable through blood for the safety of every blood transfusion recipient. The Red Cross does not say that people who identify themselves with certain groups are more likely to be exposed to a virus, but that certain behaviors increase likelihood, whether that behavior is living in West Africa, using a needle for any drug that was not prescribed by a doctor, having received a corneal (eye) transplant, or simply being a man who has had sex with another man. Unfortunately for the emergency blood supply, these strict stipulations eliminate are large pool of completely healthy and willing would-be donors. Ultimately, it is better to have a smaller, 100 percent safe blood supply than a larger but potentially infected blood supply.
The American Red Cross states on its website that these restrictions may be removed if scientists can develop a test that screens donated blood for type O HIV. Until then, check the long list of eligibility guidelines available at www.americanredcrossblood.org to see if you can donate blood. If you are ineligible because of one of these requirements, realize that the Red Cross is not targeting your identity, but ensuring the safety of everyone involved.
