Aaron Pace Says Indiana Blood Center Rejected Him For Appearing Gay

A straight man who tried donating blood at a Gary, Indiana blood center was reportedly turned away recently--because employees of the center thought he was gay.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Aaron Pace, 22, is "admittedly and noticeably effeminate," but still a heterosexual man. In any case, when he visited Bio-Blood Components Inc. in Gary, which pays for blood and plasma donations, he was told he could not be a donor because he “appears to be a homosexual.”

Bio-Blood would not respond to the Sun-Times for comment, but allegedly are taking advantage of an outdated federal law that was upheld in 2010.

CNN has more on the FDA ban:

Current FDA rules dictate that any man who has had sex with another man since 1977, even once, cannot donate blood. This rule has been in place since the early 1980s, when there were no tests in existence for identifying HIV-positive blood. Concerns about HIV tainting the blood supply prompted this policy, viewed as a safety measure.

Current law requires all donated blood to be tested for HIV and other infectious diseases, which is why gay activists and even the American Red Cross have called for the “medically and scientifically unwarranted" ban to be lifted. Also, most blood centers ask male donors if they have had sex with men during the screening process--which Bio-Blood reportedly did not do, instead they just presumed he was gay.

A 2010 study by the Williams Institute showed that if the FDA would lift its gay blood ban, nation's blood supply would be increased by 200,000 pints per year.

Still, when the Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety had a chance to lift the ban last year, they voted to uphold it, citing inadequate research surrounding high-risk donations. After the ban was upheld, the Red Cross expressed disappointment, saying they supported "rational, scientifically-based deferral periods that are applied fairly and consistently among donors who engage in similar risk activities."

As for Pace, he told the Sun-Times he was "humiliated and embarrassed," and expressed frustration with the hypocrisy of the ban. Read more about his experience here.

Comments

[jwatso7]

10:18 AM on 08/11/2011

So in America you can profile at a blood center but not in the security line at the airport? Genius.

[dbrett480]

01:24 PM on 07/23/2011

Can someone sue for discrimination for "seeming gay?"

[Ada Monique Kaufman]

06:55 PM on 07/21/2011

Wow so apparently a well groomed man cannot donate to a good cause, and honeslty they test the donators i'm sure so gay or not what does sexuality have to do with their blood?! This is the bigget load of s*** I have ever heard of!! And what an insult to this poor gentlemen he appears gay? If those were the offenders exact words I would find a way to sue this idiot for more then bad people skills

[Whatdoyou thinkof this]

04:37 PM on 07/20/2011

There is a cost for processing blood. I'm certain that they are screening out people for disease as well as minimizing their operating costs. I get excluded from fancy clubs because of how I look. Oh well... get over it. Go do something good in another area that accepts you as you are. There are many, many opportunities for contribution.

[Seer Clearly]

02:50 AM on 07/21/2011

You can't tell if someone's blood is dangerous by looking at them. So doing just such a thing is nothing but bigotry and prejudice and ignorance.

[Brittany Lock]

06:38 PM on 07/19/2011

Wow. You go, Indiana.

*Sigh*

I think someone needs to remind those jerks that they live in Gary, and could use all the blood they get.

[Richard Marti]

06:19 PM on 07/19/2011

That is unconscionable.

[Max Bernhardt]

11:38 AM on 07/19/2011

The gay blood ban is close to the stupidest social policy we have in the US today.

[badman400]

11:22 PM on 07/18/2011

We shouldn't profile, right? What a lod of crap. That's like a real life verison of the "Emperor's New Clothes." Don't look now, but there's a young arabl male on the plane seated beside a woman in a full burkha. And don't be afraid of this blood just because it came from "girlfriend" over there. To avoid so-called "profiling" is just a very dangerous form of denial, carried out to preserve the "feelings" of one sect of the population or another. They don't care much about the feelings of 6 yr old kids they pat down at airports, or old grandmothers' whose depends are checked, do they? I say to heck with their feelings if you really want to use common sense measures to fight HIV and/or terrorism.

[Seer Clearly]

02:52 AM on 07/21/2011

Since all blood is tested, there is no "common sense" in rejecting blood donors for how they look or act, or even if you know they're gay. Anything else is simple, ignorant bigotry. Unfortunately in the US today, hatred, divisiveness and bigotry are all too often listed as "common sense" which fact they are lead common denominator.

[chickenflu4]

11:10 PM on 07/18/2011

being gay is out of fashion these days!

[shiloh1388]

10:27 PM on 07/26/2011

and being out of fashion is also considered quite gay. People generally prefer to be sad. It's just so hip. Uhhhh

[David305]

09:33 PM on 07/18/2011

Whether you're gay or straight, man up.

[BlindChance]

12:44 AM on 07/19/2011

You had very stiff competition this time, but congrats, you've submitted the dumbest comment.

[David305]

11:32 PM on 07/19/2011

Men shouldn't talk/act like women, no matter whom they sleep with.

[aearthling59]

05:31 PM on 07/18/2011

Donate your own blood for storage in case you need it.

[teabagmetos]

05:30 PM on 07/18/2011

This is serious business, its not just about GAY and HIV, I'm sure they have every right to refuse Druggies and Hookers who might have it, or have Hep C. My uncle died a couple of years ago because he had been give blood before that had some sort of antibody in it that transferred to him, and without a match to that specific antibody there was no blood that they could give him. As a result he died. I would rather just die than be forced to live with HIV or Hep C. If you are going to have major surgury I recommend setting up a supply of your own blood beforehand. The ramifications this place can suffer by transfering tainted blood is enormous.

[Seer Clearly]

02:55 AM on 07/21/2011

Since all donated blood is tested, why would you insist on acting on prejudice and bigotry to get more than 100% protection? You must have other reasons for being a prejudiced bigot,.. that is the only conclusion possible.

Sorry about your uncle, but it had nothing to do with this discussion.

I'd rather live with HIV than carry the kind of ignorance, bigotry and hatred in my heart that you do.

[George Mason IV]

03:57 AM on 07/21/2011

You liberals yell that birth control is not 100% so you have abortions to avoid responsibility, then how do we know the tests are 100%. Because someone believes it is wrong to participate in homosexual activity does not mean they are a bigot. Get off that. Homosexual acts are unnatural and filthy. Those people spread diseases. They are deviants.

[pipemgr]

05:27 PM on 07/18/2011

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck then it’s a duck.

[TFlint]

06:24 PM on 07/18/2011

Duck you!

[MizK]

08:12 PM on 07/18/2011

Nice comeback....faved.

[George Mason IV]

05:17 PM on 07/18/2011

Good.

[champagne charlie]

04:43 PM on 07/18/2011

I thought this was about Marcus Bachmann!

[George Mason IV]

05:17 PM on 07/18/2011

It is about liberals.

[MizK]

08:13 PM on 07/18/2011

Marcus wants to be liberated...

Shoo little tr0ll....shoo!