THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN’S MAIN CAMPUS IS SITUATED ON TREATY 6 TERRITORY AND THE HOMELAND OF THE MÉTIS.
By Tannara Yelland March 23, 2012
In the mid-1980s at the height of the AIDS scare, nations around the world banned blood donations from gay men.
Almost 30 years later, though, we live in a very different world. We now know how the virus spreads and how to safeguard against infection. Testing has been refined such that certain types of tests, namely Nucleic Acid Tests, can detect HIV within two to three weeks. There is no need for the kind of blanket donor ban that focuses on a person’s innate characteristics, like sexuality, rather than how safe his or her behaviours are.
Simply put, people’s sexual orientations have no bearing on whether or not they are likely to have HIV.
By Canadian University Press October 8, 2011
On Sept. 8, the United Kingdom’s Health Department announced that, as of November, gay men will be allowed to give blood — if they refrain from any form of sexual contact for an entire year. Although deemed progressive by some, this newly established concession is actually more ignorant than it is groundbreaking.