Tainted Blood… with Thomas Raccoon from Elska 25
This is Thomas, the guy who did our Reader Q&A feature for our latest issue, Elska 25 (Manila, Philippines). He is also kinda my hero. If you haven’t read his feature yet, then I’m going to spoil one of his responses for you here.
In a question where he was asked to tell us about a time when he lied to someone, he recounted all the times he’s lied to nurses when donating blood, at that point where they ask if you have sex with men. Not allowing gay men, or any MSM, to donate blood is another area where we are discriminated against, contrary to the annoyingly widespread opinion that LGBTQ rights have all been achieved. This particular discrimination happens in most of the world, including in the UK.
It’s something I can relate to, but the big difference between Thomas and me is that he decided to lie and valiantly donate anyway, while the way I dealt with it was just immature. I am referring to an incident in Birmingham when a team came round to my office to take blood donations from workers in my building. I knew that I was barred from giving blood, but I decided to see the nurse anyway. But rather than fib when she asked if I’d had sex with men, I answered “yes” to the nurse’s required question about my sexual history, as if I didn't know the rules. I suppose I wanted to make her uncomfortable, as some sort of political act. Of course this nurse had heard it all before, I was just wasting her time, and taking my frustration out on her.
If you're thinking, 'Sexually active MSM are barred from giving blood for a reason, and so they should be, because they are at statistically higher risk of HIV', then that's not the point. Other groups at high risk of being HIV-positive include heterosexuals of African origin, ethnic minorities in general, and women… but none of these are outright banned. On a positive note, the UK changed the rules two years ago, now stating that MSM can give blood as long as they promise that they haven't had any sex in the past three months. I'm sorry, but if you can take someone's word for it that they've been celibate, then you can take one's word for it if they claim that they know their sexual health, status, and the safety of their sexual practices.
However, my upset over this subject doesn't come from a medical point of view. My issue is about how it feels for a gay man to be set aside and othered, to be told that they are tainted in some way. But my way of dealing with it previously, by making a quietly pointless political act, ignores that blood donation is a truly valuable act. So if you know your health and want to give, then fuck the rules and follow Thomas's example.
Liam Campbell is editor and chief photographer of Elska Magazine, a project about getting to know ordinary gay men around the world. The latest and twenty-fifth issue documents a trip to Manila, Philippines, and includes our recurring Q&A feature, this time from Londoner Thomas.
