Ban on "gay" blood donation stays in place.

Montreal -- Hema Quebec, the agency that oversees blood donations in that province, and Canadian Blood Services say they will not be reviewing their policy of banning active homosexuals from giving blood. The development comes despite the regular suppression by the medical, psychiatric and media fields of facts about the health risks of homosexual activity. It is also in contrast to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's relenting on its blood donor screening policy and three major U.S. blood agencies' recommendations that men who engage in sexual activities with men be banned from donating blood for only a year.

Although at first glance the Quebec steadfastness appears to be a result of prudence and a refusal to kowtow to a politically correct agenda, it may in fact be an outgrowth of purely financial concerns. By 1998, Canadian federal and provincial governments had paid out more than $1.25 billion in compensation to hundreds of Canadians infected with hepatitis C from tainted (including "gay"--donated) blood during the 1980s (LifeSiteNews.com, March 21, 2006).

The blood agencies continue to face pressure from homosexuals, however. Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE) has said blood donor questions should be changed from a reference to belonging to an identifiable group, as opposed to discrimination based on behaviour. The Montreal school commission voted in 2004 to cancel Hema Quebec's annual blood drive at its offices because of the exclusion of "gay" male donors. And a "gay" Montreal man in 2002 said he would pursue through the courts his right to donate blood, despite having made donations after lying on a screening questionnaire about his homosexual activities. Joel Pinon charges the ban on "gay" blood donation is "homophobic" (CTV.ca, March 11, 2002).

It is well known that Canada's tainted blood scandal occurred partly because Red Cross officials were afraid to offend the "gay community," supported by the liberal media even though the U.S. in 1983 began implementing measures to deal with the fact that blood from "gays" could be infected. Dr. Joseph Shuster, a McGill University researcher, was assailed early in the AIDS crisis for suggesting "there is no question that gay men should not donate blood until the issue has been resolved." The tragic results of those sentiments only became clear with the report of Mr. Justice Horace Krever in 1997.