Gay Men Demand Right to Bleed

No, not that, although I wouldn't be surprised...

Gay men push to end 30-year blood donation ban

A push by activists to ease the 30-year-old blanket ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men faces a key test this week as a federal panel hears results of the latest research. The findings will be released amid growing pressure from politicians and advocates, including college students, to change the policy.

Critics say the ban is a hangover from the early, fear-filled days of AIDS, stigmatizing gay men and ignoring advances in treatment and detection in the decades since.

Supporters of the policy say politics, not science, is driving the proposed change, which would heighten the risk of spreading HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, when the medical demand for blood donations is decreasing.

I've often wondered how effective the "ban" on gay men giving blood is, since there is really no mechanism for enforcement other than the honor system.  And I imagine there are a great many gay men out there who would choose not to self report and go ahead and give blood anyway.  Perhaps they had a negative AIDS test, and monogamous relationsships.  No really! It could happen.

As you may be aware, all blood collected is tested for AIDS antibodies, everytime.  It's also remotely possible for a fresh infection to slip by because antibodies haven't formed.

So how big is the threat, really?

HIV transfusion incidents are rare in the U.S.: In 2008, a patient acquired HIV from a Missouri blood transfusion. The donor, a middle-aged married man, was found to have had anonymous sex with both men and women.

That transfusion-transmitted HIV infection was the first reported since 2002, the CDC said.

 So, not very big.  But if we can only save one life...

My sense is that they want the right, not that they expect to exercise it often.