Gay Blood Ban Being Challenged

Local News, By Joal, 8th August, 2008

The Red Cross’ refusal to take blood from sexually active gay men is being challenged in a Tasmanian anti-discrimination tribunal today.

And the case is heating up – with Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group spokesperson Rodney Croome saying the Red Cross is using over-the-top scare tactics to convince the tribunal to uphold the current ban.

In a statement yesterday, Croome said that the HIV statistics cited by the Red Cross were misleading.

“The infections in question arise from unsafe sex, not gay sex… almost all these infections are increasing dramatically in other groups which aren’t banned from blood donation,” said Croome.

Calling the ban ‘textbook discrimination’, Michael Cain 25, the man refused by the Red Cross and now bringing the case to the Tribunal, believes the laws to be outdated and senseless at a time when blood supplies are consistently running low.

Some see the laws as contributing to the stigma surrounding the sexual health of gay men – the blanket ban on gay men indicates gay sex is inherently unsafe and that heterosexual sex is risk-free.

It’s estimated that 5 – 10% of the Australian male population is gay – that’s a possible 2 million donors the Red Cross is indiscriminately turning away.

While the ban may have been a legitimate response to medically acquired HIV in the eighties, lawyer Peter Tree told the tribunal that donor blood is now scanned for the virus and that the ban was medically flawed.

Rather than basing the ban on sexual preference, “the appropriate screen ought be based on unsafe sexual activity,” said Tree yesterday.

Jeremy Ruskin, QC, and lawyer for the Red Cross responded by saying that gay sex still accounts for a large majority of HIV infections in Australia, and that altering the ban would be gambling with people’s lives, “we are talking about infection and death.”

Your Thoughts

Hey there, you need to be logged in to get involved with SameSame, click here to login if you're already a member, or here if you need to become a new member.