Pride Winnipeg, Canadian Blood Services host 'ally' donor clinic

People in Winnipeg who are eligible to giveblood are rolling up their sleeves today for those who can't donate because of a Canada-wide policy that excludes some men who have sex with men.

The city's first "ally blood donor clinic" is taking placeat the Canadian Blood Services clinic at 777 William Ave.between 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Monday.It's a joint venture between the blood agency and Pride Winnipeg.

Canadian Blood Services'MSM (men who have sex with men)policy is based on federal governmentreports that show the MSM population accounts for the majority of all new cases of HIV and AIDS.

The currentpolicy, which has been in place since 2013,barsmen who have engaged in sex with other men in the past fiveyears from donating blood.

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"It's a small group of individuals within the MSM category that are causing that stat, but that stat has essentially created this blanket deferral across all MSM individuals that are capturing monogamous MSM individuals who, in reality, are low-risk," saidJonathan Niemczak,president of Pride Winnipeg.

Niemczak saidthe allydonor clinic is an opportunity for people to donate blood, as well as become aware of a policy that he said causes harm to this population.

"It kind of reinforces that stereotype that AIDS is a gay disease,when obviously it's not.It also creates a lot of uncomfortable situations when you have, say, a blood donor clinic at your workplace and you have to explain why you can't donate," he said.

'Two gifts' from one donation

Niemczak saidhe used to donate blood often until he came out of the closet several years ago.A co-worker plans todonateblood on hisbehalf.

"So it's essentially two gifts:it's a gift for me, because it allows me to essentially still carry out in the donation policy, but it's also a gift to the individual who will also receive my friend's blood," he said.

Niemczak saidCanada should follow other countries that are moving to a one-year deferral period instead of the current five years from the timeMSM individuals are last sexually active.

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Changing the policy, he said,will at the very least show a willingness from Health Canada and Canadian Blood Services to make progress.

The goal of raising awareness of the restrictive policy is to ultimately identify the high-risk individuals from the low-risk candidates,so that those who are safe to donate can do so, he added.