Steven’s World

Last month, Health Canada implemented new rules banning sexually active gay men from being organ donors.
Health Canada says, “Men who have had sex with other men within the preceding five years are excluded from being organ donors.”
There are approximately 1,000 organ transplants every year in Canada and about 4,000 people on the waiting list to receive organ donations. Hundreds of healthy organs will be discarded because of this new ban.
Similarly, gay men have been banned since 1983 from donating blood in Canada.
So what’s the big deal? Why are my organs and blood unwanted by Health Canada?
According to a report released by Health Canada, men who have sex with men made up for about 58% of all HIV/AIDS cases in Canada in 2002 and heterosexual women represented 25% of all cases. Also they said the number and percentage of women living with HIV/AIDS in Canada is increasing more than any other group.
So, why now? Why just gay men? In all the research I did, I could not find one case of HIV, AIDS or Hepatitis being transferred to an organ recipient. To me, it appears to be nothing more than bigotry from The Conservative Government and Health Canada, promoting stereotypes, homophobia and ignorance. I would like to know what prompted these new measures. Without proper explanation, it feels like a slap in the face from my own country.
So how does this affect me? Well my fiancé Carlos has a little brother, who needs a kidney transplant before next year. The best match for an organ transplant is a family member. Carlos is the youngest and healthiest person in his family so he was set to be his brother’s donor. Now thanks to the Harper government, it is unsure where he will get his kidney.
I’ll keep you posted on this situation, so stay tuned…