A Worthwhile Cause
"Canadian Blood Services is a not-for-profit, charitable organization whose sole mission is to manage the blood and blood products supply for Canadians.
To this end, Canadian Blood Services:
* Collects approximately 850,000 units of blood annually and processes it into the components and products that are administered to thousands of patients each year.
* Manages the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network whose mission is to secure, in an expeditious way, donors for Canadian bone marrow transplant patients and for patients abroad.
* Screens every donor and tests each unit of blood or blood product collected for a variety of transmissible diseases.
* Ensures that Canadian transfusion medicine research and development remains at the cutting edge.
Canadian Blood Services is committed to blood safety. In addition to the effective screening and testing processes, this pursuit of safety is reflected in every branch of its organizational structure and in each management and operational decision that is made."
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I love Canadian Blood Services… Their collections saved my mom :] Thanks for supporting them!
Everyone should give blood, it is an incredibly easy way to do something that will save someones life.
They do not allow gay people to donate.
The Canadian Blood Services openly discriminates against Gay Men.
Shame on you Perez for supporting them.
They don't let men who have had openly gay relationships before a certain year (In the 80's or 90's) donate blood.
But, in their defense in the 90's the some blood with HIV/AIDS made its rounds and made a LOT of people sick.
Come on Perez, do your research! Canadian Blood Services discriminates against gay men in Canada by refusing to allow them to donate blood - all the while putting out ad after ad about how "desperate" they are for blood donations. I would LOVE to donate my blood and help them out, however they do not want it, for fear that I'm infected. Rediculous. Pull this down, they do not deserve your support.
I am not allowed to donate blood because I am gay.
It is really unfortunate that Cdn Blood Services will not accept blood from gay men. Recently though, they did lift their ban on gay bone marrow donors.
If you are a man who has EVER had sex with a man, you can not donate.
A woman could just have been done raw up the butt by the football team and she can still donate.
It's discrimination.
I love you for having the insight to realize that we love you in counties other than the US, and help promote out causes as well
PEREZ!!!!!! As a gay man from Canada who is NOT allowed to donate to Canadian Blood Services, I would have expected you to NOT support them!!!!!!!! I am a HUGE fan of your work, but not impressed that you would endorse a company that discriminates against homosexuals. Shame!
im gay and living in canada, so according to them, my blood is tainted. id love to donate blood and have thought of lying in the pre-screen. i should. just watch me.
Perez!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!! for supporting Canadian Blood Services ♦despite♦ their current ban on gay males donating!! As much as this is a sticking point for many gays (and rightfully so) you still have chosen to feature it because I know you know the value of a life…a life that can very much be saved by a blood donation…you are a giant heart!! Thank you!! Despite the current ban, (although they have now lifted the ban against gay bone marrow donors), please continue to support this organization!! I had leukemia 9 years ago, given a 5% chance to survive and recieved more than 1,000 units of blood…I am alive today thankfully to all the donors…the ban isn't fair but Canada isn't the only country with this policy, if you can't donate, please still support CBS as you or a loved one may need blood one day!
They need this non-profit to help collect blood b/c their socialized health care can't meet the needs of the people.
Re: joyous1 – EDUCATE YOURSELF B4 POSTING SUCH B.S
to Julie newmar - What the hell do you know about socialized health care??? It's the best thing in the world to be able to go to any medical insitute get treated for an illness and walk with you money and you integrety!! we need non-profit because of our health care are you well??? At least we Canadians arent all greety lil bastards and to all of you gay man please take a breather and stop jumping the gun on this ok so the Canadian blood services are flawed in not accepting gay man blah blah blah… Well as Stefanymonroe said, its because of issues tht happen in the past and now they are hesitent give them time they will come around, we cant win every battle…. at least we have gay marriage in CANADA!!! Oh and one last thing, if a Canadian gay man end up in need of a blood tranfusion… they wont discriminate against you and they will find a blood match and get it to you ASAP so think about for a second you should be freaking greatfull for blood services!!!!
Re: joyous1 – Julie newmar said it best, EDUCATE yourself before posting BS - What the hell do you know about socialized health care??? It's the best thing in the world to be able to go to any medical insitute get treated for an illness and walk out with you money and you integrety!! we "need non-profit because of our health care" shows how much you know!!!
Re: CanadianMan – and to all other "gay man" please take a breather and stop jumping the gun on this ok so… the Canadian blood services are flawed in not accepting gay man I give you that much… Well as Stefanymonroe said, its because of issues that happen in the past and now they are hesitent, give them time they will come around, we cant win every battle…. at least we have gay marriage in CANADA!!! Oh and one last thing, if a Canadian gay man ends up in need of a blood tranfusion or what evee… they wont discriminate against you and they will find a blood match and get it to you ASAP so think about for a second you should be freaking greatfull for blood services!!!!
Re: Julie Newmar – I agree 100% and every one please disregard comment #16 It was typo that I submited by accident!!!
To say that we should let CBS' policy of discrimination slide because of the good work they do, is like saying we allow blacks to ride on the back of the bus because at least they are getting a ride!
If this discrimination was based on unprotected sex, tattoos, etc. that would be fine, but it is not. It does not equate to protection of the blood supply, it equates to homophobia.
Again, shame Perez.
Why don't these Canadian mother fuckers use the blood of the thousands of seals they slaughter for profit … and they are homophobes. FU 2 CANADA …
Not only does CBS discriminate against gay men, it also will not accept blood from anyone, regardless of gender, who's ever had an HIV test and says so - when it's the people who don't get tested who are dangerous!
I'm a Canadian lesbian and I've donated blood since my own family members have benefited from CBS. If you look up their website the reason they have deferred gay men from donating is because the HIV/AIDS rate has INCREASED in Canada among gay men. This is taken right from their website: "Statistics released by the Public Health Agency of Canada in 2005 indicate that men who have sex with men represented 58 per cent of the HIV/AIDS cases in Canada. This number is up from 2002, when they represented 40 per cent; and in 1996, when they represented 30 per cent of new cases of HIV/AIDS in Canada." Also there is an incubation period for HIV that can be missed in screenings, so they're doing a service. You can say it's discrimination but looking at these figures it's only sensible. As a lesbian I have MANY gay male friends and yes, many of them are promiscuous and some of them I know for a fact don't use protection. So until gay men in Canada get these numbers down by being safe and less promiscuous - they have no one to blame but themselves as far as I'm concerned.
have my appointment next thursday!
The canadian blood services do not discriminate against anyone…firstly. Whoever said that is a moron. You don't even realize how IMPORTANT it is to do this for yourself, and others. When my daughter was 8 months old she was diagnosed with Kawasakis disease and would have died if it were not for CBS. She recieved Immunogloben treatments every 15 min for 24 hours, and each treatment was the equivilant of hundreds of donors plasma. That saved her life. I encourage every able person to donate what you can, blood or plasma. Thanks for making this a priority.
they saved my life too…
i recently wrote a blog on the importance of donating blood!
www.kokoberries.com
I think they also do good things like AIDS screen, I think there is an option to say "do not donate, just screen".
Sucks about the discrimination but I still think they do amazing work in the long run.
I know WAAAY too many people that have benifitted and are alive becasue of this …
So if you do some good in the world, discrimination is ok?
This is what some of you are saying.
Re: VirdenEMT – no, and it sucks that potential donors are being left out, but there are studies consistently being conducted by stats canada that analyze high-risk groups. it's a work in progress and hopefully there will be some resoultion down the road.
again, i've read thru the whole discrimination aspect of these comments, and be sure that it's not a personal attack on a certain group of people. It has nothing to do with sexual choice that they do it….I know that if you've gotten a piercing or a tattoo, you are not allowed to donate for a year. It is really unfortunate that some people have to constantly see precautions as accusations and turn everything into an attack against them personally. Look at the bigger picture. They don't choose to exclude gay men because they hate gay men, its because of the studies done in that group of people which has caused the concern. Don't you think that if it were really a homophobic gesture they would have included gay women? stop being so sensitive.
I am a registered Bone Marrow Donor with Canadian Blood Services. Their work is irreplaceable!
Re: SexyLibrarian – that's not completely true, i've had a HIV test and they let me donate, they just don't let you donate if it comes back positive….but i do support CBS even if they did collapse my vein and my arm looks disgusting
Re: joyous1 – That's bullshit. Canada's people have always done this, voluntarily, and it works. I lived there, and may go back. Not everyone always has their hand out.
The main concern of CBS is to provide a safe blood supply. Many people like gay men, people who have used intravenous drugs (even once and have been clean for years) or people who have lived in certain parts of Europe during certain times can’t donate. I understand the frustration gay men must feel but at this point the research shows that it is an HIV high risk activity and they can’t risk passing it on to blood recipients. This risk obviously doesn’t apply to gay men who practice safe sex but CBs isn’t able to determine who these people are. CBS gives any people who have been prevented from donating blood many opportunities to help out in different ways. The testing for HIV is extremely good but there is always a chance they might miss a case so by eliminating high risk groups they make the blood that much safer. As technology advances soon hopefully all people will be allowed to donate. If you have spent even one day working in the blood bank and you saw the need for blood you would not fault CBS, they do extremely important work and any support they can get is greatly needed. Thanks to Perez for supporting a Canadian organization and for also being able to see past the controversy and see that the work that CBS does is so important.
It's wonderful that they collect blood to help and blah blah blah. Calgary, Alberta, Canada's location put me on a do not call list because when a nurse drew blood wrong and the needle didn't stay in my arm, causing me to bleed all over, I laughed. She found it rude and it took 6 months to have them return my calls to tell me why I was not able to donate… Oh ya, by the way, I'm O negative, as is my daughter. Because they allow personal slights to come before helping people I DO NOT DONATE AND I WILL NOT DONATE IN CANADA.
Re: SexyLibrarian – You're misinformed. If you've had an HIV test, you can still donate blood, you may be asked to bring in the negative results prior to donating, but they will still accept your donation. I was a surrogate for friends of mine and was tested for all diseases (including HIV) 4 times (once before hand and once per trimester) and I've been allowed to donate since then.
Okay so youre gay and you can't donate? Get over it!
You may need blood some day… guess where it is going to come from?
i love canadian blood services, and i am a proud canadian,but i think there is more alcohol in my blood on a regular basis than blood so i think it would be morally wrong to donate at this point
Re: Amanda_Mae – Screw that nurse. Do it for the people who need the 'O Negative'. That's what's important. Oh, yeah. Ya-HOO!