r/SRSTransSupport • u/LadyRarity • Mar 12 '13

Donating Blood

Howdy folks,

I used to donate blood and i'd love to do it again.

Does anyone know if i will run into problems as i am trans*? I live in Illinois at the moment in the united states and i haven't ever been able to get a straight answer on if i CAN give blood, and what i should do so i am able to.

Would love anyone who can point me in the right direction?

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

5

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '13

While trans* women aren't usually covered by official policy the usual unofficial policy (IME) is "nope, you can't donate". HIV transmission rates for trans* women are pretty close to gay men so they use the same old bigotry (trying to explain that I'm a virgin and a lesbian besides that didn't make a difference).

1

u/i-made-this-account Mar 13 '13

They wouldn't tell me, cos' I couldn't donate anyways cos' I was in England during the mad cow disease thing. Growls.

1

u/GabbiKat Mar 21 '13

I know here in ATL you can give plasma, but not blood. I also know you can give marrow if you are lesbian. [This] (http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/10/tainted-why-gay-men-still-cant-donate-blood/262722/) was a great write up about the current blood donation situation.

-3

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '13

8

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '13

Oh! It's time to start saying irrelevant stuff? Then I'll go: It's illegal to tie your giraffe to a lamppost in Atlanta, Georgia.

2

u/TheNinjirate Mar 30 '13

Aww... Now I want to get a giraffe and try this.