fda restricts gay sperm donors

There are certain things I can't do because I've recently had cancer. Some are because I'm at higher risk for recurrence (I can't get life insurance right now or join the Peace Corps). Others are things I can't do because my health status could jeopardize someone else. The biggest of these is being a blood donor. I can't give blood for 7 years after my cancer diagnosis, because there's a chance that I could give my disease to someone else. And frankly, I think that is entirely reasonable.

But what the FDA is about to do is flat-out ridiculous. They've singled out gay male sperm donors, stating they have a higher risk of HIV, but are ignoring straight men who engage in risky sexual behaviors.

To the dismay of gay-rights activists, the Food and Drug Administration is about to implement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor.

The FDA has rejected calls to scrap the provision, insisting that gay men collectively pose a higher-than-average risk of carrying the AIDS virus. Critics accuse the FDA of stigmatizing all gay men rather than adopting a screening process that focuses on high-risk sexual behavior by any would-be donor, gay or straight.

"Under these rules, a heterosexual man who had unprotected sex with HIV-positive prostitutes would be OK as a donor one year later, but a gay man in a monogamous, safe-sex relationship is not OK unless he's been celibate for five years," said Leland Traiman, director of a clinic in Alameda, Calif., that seeks gay sperm donors.

Don't get me wrong -- I support restrictions on who can donate, but think that there are better ways to prevent the transmission of HIV and AIDS.

Traiman said adequate safety assurances can be provided by testing a sperm donor at the time of the initial donation, then freezing the sperm for a six-month quarantine and testing the donor again to be sure there is no new sign of HIV or other infectious diseases.

But I can't support a policy based on bigotry.
Via PlanetOut