Discussion from The View about the ban on gay blood donors

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:19pm

http://www.afterelton.com/blog/dennis/the-view-black-gay-men

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:21pm

This had my blood boiling yesterday. Sherrie, once again, needs to educate herself. However, how can we expect her to be any smarter than the moronic FDA!

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:25pm

I'm confused about the actual reason for the high rates of HIV among black women. Some people say it's because of black men in the closet sleeping around on their wives, others say it's not.


There's a myth in the Black community about the "down low" brother being the reason why so many Black women are testing positive for HIV. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, Black women make up more than half, roughly 61 percent, of all new HIV cases among women in the U.S. They're also about 18 times more likely to test positive than white women, according to the CDC.

For years, the supposed "down low" brother was partially, if not primarily, blamed for this phenomenon. It was believed that closeted or bisexual Black men were having sex with men and bringing the disease home to their partners. But the CDC says that is simply not the case. The CDC says it's actually heterosexual men with multiple partners and histories of drug use who are primarily responsible for the high infection rates among Black women.

In fact, it appears the primary contributors to the soaring HIV/AIDS infection rate among Black women are the same old historical race and class issues our community has been battling for decades: Poverty, high unemployment rates, high women to male ratios, drug use and high incarceration rates among black women. Incarcerated women are 10 times more likely to be HIV positive than the general population.

http://www.theloop21.com/news/cdc-brothers-the-down-low-not-blame-for-high-hiv-infection-rates-among-black-women

Because of a flurry of media coverage about the DL link, including an Oprah show featuring King and a New York Times Magazine story, many who study AIDS in the black community cringe at its mention. "I'm sick of hearing about it," says Victoria Cargill, an epidemiologist at the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health. Cargill, who also works at a clinic in poor, black Southeast D.C., says the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in women can clearly be attributed to a host of factors that have nothing to do with the DL. "I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but if we start adding up how many people this affects, this is the eye of the needle," says Cargill. "Let's start talking about the needle." CDC epidemiologist Greg Millett says that when it comes to the DL phenomenon, there simply are more questions than answers. "The truth is there are very few studies that deal with bisexual black men and even fewer that deal with the down low," says Millett, who has put together a provocative PowerPoint presentation on the topic.

http://www.slate.com/id/2108724

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:26pm

I thought this was an interesting comment in the comments section (my distaste for AfterElton aside) -

I find the entire concept of "on the down low" preposterous. A closet case is a closet case no matter your ethnicity.

I had never really thought about it that way - and it's probably just going to open people to saying racist things - but it's something that's gotten me thinking.

At any rate - I don't watch The View regularly, but do the gays that DO actually ever sent complaint letters to the show and/or ABC, or do they just bitch about it on the internet? I don't mean that to sound snarky, but if they are consistently pissing off what seems to be a good chunk of their viewing audience, shouldn't they have to expound on their positions more?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:38pm

That's exactly it--anyone of any race or ethnicity can be guilty of endangering their partner by having unsafe sex on the "down low". I do understand that it's even harder for a person of color to come out.

The fact is that all blood donated must be tested. The questioning needs to be about safe sex practices and for ALL people. My blood is perfectly safe for donating. But, oh well.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:39pm

Sherrie annoyed me with this. She kept calling the guys on the "down low" gay. Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, there are bisexual people. I have known guys on the "down-low" who like sex with both males and females.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:43pm

"The fact is that all blood donated must be tested."

Exactly...which is why this is ridiculous and infuriating, and why I complain to HR every year someone comes to my desk to recruit me for the annual blood drive.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:45pm

This has really REALLY pissed me off. I think I may write The View simply to get it out of my system and hope it gets through someone's granite skull that these television personalities are infecting the population with gross generalities.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 3:48pm

And it really was a hell of an episode with that prayer discussion before that. The icing on the cake being Elizabeth's "Pray for communism! Pray for communism!" nonsense.

I really should stop watching this ****. lol

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 4:11pm

doodle...I hated that. Two of us in my former office were not allowed to donate but they would come to our desk all the time because they needed volunteers. We refused. Co-workers would say "but you get a gift". It wasn't worth it.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 6/23/10 at 4:22pm

I certainly want the blood supply to be strong, but this is just discrimination, and that it's based on an old knee jerk reaction from decades ago (all of our knees were jerking) makes it even harder to swallow that it's being upheld.

I have to say that my complaints have not gone unnoticed, as the "drive" to recruit donors has been calmer, there is always one overzealous person that I need to explain this policy to...and why I'm not allowed to donate my perfectly good blood...well, not on a Monday, but the rest of the week it's pretty low octane.

[Dre2387]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 7:35am

I agree that all blood should be tested. I don't know how many times I had to pass the blood drive at college and when asked if I would donate blood, I had to tell them no. and the reason? I was born in england and lived there for more than 6 months and ate red meat and because of that, i might have a good chance of carrying the mad cow disease. So stupid!

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 10:51am

I'm absolutely writing a letter to express how I feel. Not only did they not answer the question, they were offensive and biased in the way they responded at all.

[bethnor]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 11:12am

mad cow disease is a totally different animal. so to speak.

the ban because of HBV, HCV, and HIV IS totally ridiculous, though. blood IS tested for those pathogens, it's not a matter of "should," and the tests are reliable (but nothing is perfect).

whereas, AFAIK, there is no reliable, cheap, screening test for prions.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 11:34am

we should have a VIEW thread. That whole conversation again just peed me off with some of the comments. I don't how Joy contains herself from saying "you are an effin idiot" to EH or Sherri. she gives Sherri a pass sometimes due to the comic thing. you couldn't pay me to watch sherri do stand up.

I won't start another thread, but just watching the way Chris Rock was looking at Elisabeth today made me laugh. out. loud. it was like "wtf are you sayin'!" and could her skirt be any shorter. Sherri also really repulses me. for more than just her yammering on. seriously.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 11:36am

I think Elisabeth might be wearing shorts. The new Chris Rock movie looks pretty funny.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 11:41am

^ shorts, skirt, skort, shkorts...i can see her upper thigh to cheek. LOL

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 11:44am

I feel like any time Sherri Shepherd hides behind her religion and professes moral authority on ANYTHING, she should be reminded that she said she's had "more abortions than [she] can count."

[StockardFan]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 11:45am

I wear shorts that are that short when I'm sitting like she is.......of course not with heels.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 12:01pm

that's fine. so do i. but i am not on tv and being holier than thou about every little thing. she just bugs me, i am nitpicking i know. PRS, Sherri also likes to talk about leaving her first religion too. how she was ex communicated, etc etc. i am not against anyone having faith. i do. it is when they skew it to suit their agenda, even when it doesn't belong in the conversation.

i agree with the ex judge too. i have always thought Daniel's death was very suspicious.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 12:47pm

My high school boyfriend was born in Nigeria, so I could have HIV subtype O. First time. If I had sex with a prostitute, a heroin addict or a gay man, I'd only have to wait a year, but West Africa- banned for life!

They used to have blood drives in the dorms in college and I would just say I can't donate blood. Only a few times was I pressed for an explanation.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 12:54pm

You know, I know there was an HIV-1 and HIV-2, but I no idea there were so many subtypes.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 6:41pm

Information on contacting ABC

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 7:26pm

Phyllis, I didn't know either until I found out the CDC assumed I had one.

I wonder how Sherri would react if someone told her she should be banned from giving blood, because heterosexual black females have the highest infection rate in the country (possibly world).

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 6/24/10 at 8:21pm

I wasn't 'out' when the blood vans came to my school, so I had to pretend that I was scared of needles every time someone asked why I wasn't participating like everyone else.

You could tell there was a 'get over it you selfish prick, people are dying' attitude when they were trying to gather donors.

Stupid.