MU student body president questions blood donation restrictions for gay men – Columbia Missourian
MU’s student body president is speaking out about not being able to donate blood during the annual Homecoming Blood Drive because he is gay.
Landon Brickey sent a tweet on his official Twitter account, @MSAPresident, that read: “Love being ostracized from an entire Mizzou tradition because of my sexual orientation! M-I-Z.”
Brickey was referring to federal regulations that restrict organizations including the American Red Cross from accepting blood from a man who has had sexual activity with another man in the past three months.
Reached later by phone, Brickey said he sent the tweet to increase awareness of the issue and start a dialog about whether the federal policy should be changed. He said students who want to donate blood but cannot because of a sexual preference can feel rejected by their community.
“It was kind of a traumatizing experience,” Brickey said, describing how he was turned away from the blood drive when he was a freshman. Brickey, now a senior, said he didn’t attempt to donate blood at this year’s drive, which continued through Thursday, because he knew the restriction would disqualify him.
Federal regulations previously required that gay men wait 12 months after sexual activity before donating blood, but that requirement was reduced to three months in April 2020 because of concerns about the nation’s blood supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brickey said that change is evidence that placing any time limit on blood donations after sexual activity is arbitrary.
American Red Cross spokesperson Joe Zydlo said in an email Thursday evening that the organization follows federal guidelines when determining who can and can’t donate blood.
In the past, the American Red Cross has been outspoken about its wish that eligibility for blood donation not be based on sexual orientation.
In April 2020, after the federal restriction was reduced to three months, the American Red Cross said in a statement: “The Red Cross is encouraged by this action, which we view as an interim step to achieving our greater goal. But the Red Cross also recognizes that further progress is needed, and we continue to strongly support the expanded use of new research and technologies to work toward elimination of donor eligibility questions that would no longer be necessary.”
The Mizzou Homecoming Blood Drive is typically one of the largest blood drives in the nation.