Blood Drives are popular service projects on campuses nationwide. However, an FDA policy excludes gay men from donating blood. How is a campus to deal with the discriminatory impact of such events?

Much like military recruitment, blood drives strike a nerve on campuses that include sexual orientation in its discrimination clause. In 1983, the FDA recommended donor-screening procedures to exclude individuals at increased risk for transmitting HIV. The FDA policy screens out all potential donors who are men who have had sex, even once, with another man since 1977.

 An explanation of the policy and the rationale for keeping it in place can be found athttp://www.fda.gov/cber/faq/bldfaq.asp.  As recently as Spring 2004, the FDA upheld the decision to enforce the policy in the following article:

From the Washington Square News (NYU) April 27, 2004; FDA denies blood-drive petition by Anne Klingeberger Staff Writer

The FDA has matter-of-factly declined an NYU petition pushing to change the federal policy that bans gay men from donating blood, citing evidence that homosexual intercourse is still considered high-risk behavior.

Members of NYU's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community submitted a petition to the Department of Health and Human Services in February that included more than 500 signatures collected from students, faculty members and staff members during last fall's all-university blood drive.

Julie Zawisza, a representative for the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, responded in a March 30 letter, saying, "FDA's policy to defer male blood donors who have sex with other men is based on available scientific studies that demonstrate that, as a group, men who have sex with other men are at a higher risk for transmitting infectious diseases than are other individuals."

Zawisza wrote that the FDA would consider updating its policy if scientific data could prove that blood donations from homosexual men are safe.

"If studies would become available that examine the risk of transmitting infectious diseases via blood from monogamous gay men, gay men who practice safe sex and gay men who previously have tested negative to HIV, FDA would be interesting in reviewing them," she wrote.

A 1983 FDA guideline prohibits men who have had sex with other men after 1977 from donating blood. Guidelines also require other "high-risk" individuals to wait a fixed amount of time before giving blood.

For instance, people who have had sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea or chlamydia are labeled "high risk," and must wait a year after being diagnosed and treated to give blood.

Similarly, would-be blood donors who have had sex with a prostitute - male or female - must wait a year after that encounter.

NYU signatories requested that FDA officials change its policy to list homosexual behavior among the former, adopting a similar waiting period.

The Student Senators Council added a cover letter to the petition and sent the package to the FDA in February.

Council chair Jonathan Vafai, a fourth-year medical student, said he was pleased that Zawisza seemed to take the petition seriously, writing satisfactory answers to the council's concerns. The council has no plans to pursue the issue.

"I don't think there's really anything else we can do," he said.

Diane Yu, the chief of staff for university president John Sexton who coordinated last fall's blood drive, accepted the FDA's stance.

"Ultimately, it's a scientific and medical issue," she said. "But it's a helpful thing to bring to the FDA's attention."

Some argue that blood drives that adhere to the policy should be banned from campuses. Since banning blood drives is controversial, as it is a much-needed service, others argue that education is the key to ending the policy.

In educating others about the policy, Ric Chollar, Assistant Director for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Students at George Mason University, said, “What we most wanted to prevent was the situation where a … male student, who has had sex with another male, is then presented with the no-win choice of either outing himself or lying.”

Possible strategies to implement on your campus:

1. Conduct outreach to the campus community. Many people don't know about the exclusionary policy.
2. Encourage students who would be banned to approach the donation table and discuss the policy with Red Cross volunteers.
3. Put together a list of how many viable pints of blood the collection agency is missing out on because of this outdated policy.
4. Advocate working with other blood collection agencies that do not support the FDA policy.
5. Write letters to the FDA, your congressperson and Members of the Congressional committees that control the FDA. Use the following website for contact information on FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee members at http://www.fda.gov/cber/advisory/bp/bpmembers.asp.
6. Get faculty members involved, as well.
7. Hold a petition drive.
8. File formal discrimination complaints with your school and/or state system.