It is a well documented fact that the HIV virus is spread primarily via unsafe sex practices engaged in by MSM (men who have sex with men i.e active homosexual men). In July 2012 National Media Manager of the Australian Red Cross, Kathy Bowlen, stated:

“Sexually active gay men make the vast majority, about 90 per cent of people who contract HIV”.

A recent survey of New Zealand gay men undertaken in conjunction with the NZ AIDS Foundation revealed nearly two thirds of gay men are drug users, and the majority also cheat on their partners, frequently. The survey found that 35% of NZ gay men have sex with between 12 and a hundred different strangers every year.

Promiscuous homosexual men (see note 1) who engage in anal and oral sex with multiple partners are at real risk of contracting HIV/AIDS (see note 2) and passing it on to their sex partners. There is a risk that bisexual men who have engaged in anal sex with homosexual men and contracted HIV will pass it on to their female sex partners.

In Australia MSM are not allowed to donate blood at the risk of passing on blood-borne diseases, unless they declare that they have been celibate over the previous 12 months. Australian “gay” lobby groups are infuriated at the Red Cross, arguing there is discrimination regarding blood donations.

In New Zealand MSM are prevented from donating blood if they have engaged in anal or oral sex, with or without a condom, in the five year period prior to their application to be a donor. This is termed the five year “deferral policy”. The same prohibition applies if they have received payment for “gay” sex. This effective ban reflects the higher risk for those in the MSM group of contracting HIV, compared to those in other groups.

Kathy Bowlen confirmed that Red Cross’s testing of blood is not infallible and therefore MSM is a risk group.

“The problem [with MSM] is there is a window period in which someone has contracted the disease [HIV/AIDS] and this is not able to be picked up in testing.

“Gay women are able to donate which shows that the Red Cross is not discriminatory [against “gay” men].

“The entire focus with regard to blood donations and responsibility revolves around ruling out the risk.”

Bowlen’s comments effectively destroy the spurious accusation made by Rodney Croome, currently serving as the spokesperson for the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group and is National Convenor of Australian Marriage Equality, that sexually active homosexual men (MSM) are being discriminated against in being prevented from donating blood.

Croome insists that every homosexual male actively engaged in anal and oral sex (MSM) has a human right to donate blood to Blood Services Agencies. He claims:

” The best blood donation policy screens potential donors for the safety of their blood rather than their gender.”…

“We know know that HIV is spread by unsafe sex and not gay sex; therefore there needs to be a shift in focus when discussing blood donation”

However, he ignores the fact that the prohibition is not  based on gender, but rather it is based on known real risk. He ignores the fact that HIV testing is problematic due to the dormancy period of the virus, which means that even if a negative HIV test is given for a “gay”  blood donor, there remains a real risk he may unknowingly carry the virus. The real risk of HIV being present and going undetected, rules all MSM out as blood donors.

Rodney Croome wants to politicise the issue of blood donor policy for the purpose of his “gay” ‘rights’ agenda: including the drive to “normalise” the sexual practices of “gay” men. The ‘victim’ mentality engaged in by homosexual activists on this issue does not make any sense to health officials whose duty of care is the “public good” of the wider population. Croom claims that MSM are stigmatised by Red Cross due to their refusal to accept MSM blood and he asserts this is an typical example of institutional “homophobia”. This fallacious and defamatory accusation has been utterly repudiated by Red Cross and investigations carried out on the Blood Donor programme in Australia.

In the US and Canada no MSM can donate blood if they engaged in anal or oral sex since 1977 or engaged in sex for money or drugs. In much of Europe there is an effective total ban. In Korea and Japan no MSM individual can donate blood.

Public safety must at all times be put ahead of the politicisation of health issues by a “gay” ‘rights’ minority which is always accusing those they disagree with as “homphobes” and “homophobic bigots”.

Notes: 

1. A New Zealand survey of “gay” men revealed: Only 23% of the 1,200 men surveyed had managed to remain monogamous over the previous six months. Two thirds of the men reported multiple partners over that time. Many of them – more than a quarter – not only had multiple regular sex partners, they also had multiple casual sex partners as well. Nearly ten percent of those surveyed reported having between 20 and 50 sexual partners in the previous six months. A further 24% had between six and 20 partners in just six months. This was not a survey about how many times these men were having sex, it was a survey to find out how many different men they were having sex with.

A 2008 version of the same study notes that actual rates of “concurrent sexual partners” will be “higher than those reported here” because of methodology issues with the survey.

See: http://www.investigatemagazine.co.nz/Investigate/?p=3328

2. The AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) infection is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV is spread when blood, semen, or vaginal fluids from an infected person enter another person’s body, usually through sexual contact, from sharing needles when injecting drugs, or from mother to baby during birth. HIV is rarely spread by blood transfusions or organ transplants because of improved screening procedures.

References:

http://www.altmedia.net.au/donation-appeal-ignites-gay-blood-debate/56587

http://www.transfusion.com.au/sites/default/files/Blood%20Review%20Report.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_male_blood_donor_controversy