A few days ago I came across this video:
This
morning I went to the blood bank to donate plasma. Every time you
donate you have to fill out a form, checking yes or no for a bunch of
questions. Among those questions are: for men: have you ever had sex
with another man? And for women: in the past 12 months, have you had sex
with a man who has ever had sex with another man? As you can see the
idea that "gay blood" still has a higher risk of being contaminated
still lingers in The Netherlands as well. The Dutch LGBT rights
organization, the COC, asked questions about this to our government and
they are currently debating the issue. They have been for about 7 years
now. When asked for an update on this we get a general reply of: we're
working on it, it takes time. Latest news I could find was from november 2012.
Personally,
I don't think this should be much of an issue. The risks of gay or
bisexual men are close to the same here as for straight people. And even
if you are taking risks, the screening fro the blood is very good these
days and if there is something wrong the chances that they will notice
are close to 100% now. About 8% of the population is gay. I know a lot
of gay men who are willing to donate blood. And there is always a
shortage. Why not allow them to donate? Do you really care who's blood
it is when you are dying? Would you rather die then get a gay man's
blood?
As a female to male transgender, I seem to have a
bit of a problem though. Which box do I tick? Right now I am still
officially registered as female at the blood bank but at some point that
will change. What do I do then? If they still ask those questions by
then, and they probably will, I will suddenly no longer be allowed to
donate. Nothing has changed. At least, my official gender will have
changed. But none of my actions will have changed. I am not at a greater
risk of getting AIDS. Actually I'm not dating anyone right now but I
have had sex with men in the past. And the form says: have you EVER had
sex with a man. And yes, I have. So officially, I'm not allowed to
donate. This makes me rather angry. I'm trying to help. I'm trying to
save peoples lives. And because I am being myself I am suddenly no
longer allowed to do that. It's a very strange world we live in.
However, I will continue to donate for as long as I can and I encourage
others to do the same. You never know when you or a loved one will be on
the receiving end.
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