Why can't I give blood?

I was alarmed when I read in last Wednesday's Daily Forty-Niner that the Red Cross had issued a national plea for blood donors because of a critical shortage.

"The nation's blood supply is in danger," Red Cross President Dr. Bernadine Healy said in an Associated Press article. "We need help now."

I would love to, but I can't. I am not an eligible donor; not because I am too young or too old; not because I am sick or underweight. As explained in the article, I cannot donate because of a Food and Drug Administration ban on gay men. If I have had sex with another man at any time since 1977, I am too risky.

I am not ignorant of why. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported at the end of 1999 that 47 percent of all AIDS cases were attributed to men who have sex with men. That compares to 25 percent for intravenous drug use and 10 percent for heterosexual contact. Statistically, gay men are risky when lumped together.

John Caldwell
How I see it

This fails to consider that only eight percent of that lump actually has the disease, and an even smaller percentage engages in risky behavior.

I am less of a risk than my straight neighbor. I have tested negative for the disease multiple times and have been in a monogamous relationship for over three years. My neighbor is not in a relationship and has never been tested. Yet, he gives blood without question. And I am concerned that he and others like him are a risk to my safety.

I can give blood, but I have to lie to do it. I would rather not. It goes against all I have worked so hard to achieve in coming out. I do not like this ban because it singles me out as bad by assuming that I am part of a small group of irresponsible people who persist in having unprotected sex despite overwhelming evidence that they could die a horrible death as a result.

In light of such a drastic shortage of blood, I think the FDA and the Red Cross should do more to include me. I am aware that it would be a difficult task. They have, in times of desperation, considered easing the ban, but have consistently failed to do so.

But I, like many of my friends, am sincere when I say I would love to help out.

John Caldwell is a print journalism major.