Comments | kino_kid: Gay and Bisexual Men in Canada Can Register as Stem Cell Donors

kino_kid

Gay and Bisexual Men in Canada Can Register as Stem Cell Donors

Dec 08, 2009 20:47

MAJOR NEWS!!

Gay men can register on the Canadian stem cell registry!

I regret being at work when I read this. I was shivering all over, it was completely unexpected and completely welcome ( Read more... )

onematch, bone marrow

Comments 6

northbard December 9 2009, 05:36:56 UTC

Ok, so, once I'm done crying, I'm going to sleep, then tomorrow, when I'm at a proper keyboard, I'll be registering and posting about this. Thank you. I dunno how much agitation you made for it, but even just for letting us know. I'm sort of shocked just how much this is affecting me.

kino_kid December 10 2009, 05:24:21 UTC

I know... I am still wrapping my head around it. I don't think this was me. I think this was probably a lot of people like me one at a time registering their opposition. Even people at the registries were against the ban. It's more at the Health Canada level.

I know I wrote letters concerning organ donation more than once before Emru got sick, and then I did it for stem cell donation. I'm sure there were people working on this for a long time way before me. It's huge.

(The comment has been removed)

kino_kid December 10 2009, 05:26:00 UTC

It's really amazing, isn't it? It's too bad it is not on the front page of our newspapers. When they changed the rules for deferrals for blood and I was able to donate again, I did not find out for years because it was not well publicized. Thanks for letting others know.

silly_imp December 9 2009, 14:38:58 UTC

Truly great news! Hurray!

messycat December 9 2009, 15:16:49 UTC

I'm just curious...why were gay men NOT allowed to register?
What does sexual preference and stem cel donation have to do with eachother?

kino_kid December 10 2009, 05:29:07 UTC

I know. I know.

People were scapegoating gay men and not allowing them to be donors because of the concern about the transmission of HIV. Sexual orientation should not be factored in because it is about a healthy individual who also gets a complete screen anyway well before the donation process begins, who may be the only match for someone else.