FDA to ban gay sperm donors.

May 7, 2005 1:35 PM

FDA to ban gay sperm donors. The agency says that such men collectively are more likely to be HIV-positive than other men.
posted by CrunchyGods (35 comments total)

Double post
posted by Hot Like Your 12V Wire at 1:36 PM on May 7, 2005

All you have to do is search for the word 'gay' on the front page. It's right there.
posted by blacklite at 1:37 PM on May 7, 2005

Dang! Sorry. Used the little "Search Google" thing.
posted by CrunchyGods at 1:38 PM on May 7, 2005

ooh. let me summarize the previous thread's comments tag-style:

eugenics genetics whydonateinthefirstplace? expensive population individual black tall prostitution firsttheycameforthegaysperm recipient donor bush porn anal breastmilk internationaltravel tatoos FALSEANALOGY springtime hitler germany testing STATISTICS lalalala
posted by VulcanMike at 1:44 PM on May 7, 2005

The FDA's a federal agency, and hence run at the top levels by the same sort of fundy wingnuts that run the rest of your government. Why the surprise?
posted by clevershark at 1:51 PM on May 7, 2005

shhhhh blatant, recent double-post. only snark allowed, clevershark!
posted by VulcanMike at 2:03 PM on May 7, 2005

Used the little "Search Google" thing

because google knows everything, immediately.
posted by quonsar at 2:04 PM on May 7, 2005

wait wait... this is a double post!!
posted by trinarian at 2:12 PM on May 7, 2005

clevershark is gay
posted by Witty at 2:13 PM on May 7, 2005

"Witty" isn't.
posted by clevershark at 2:18 PM on May 7, 2005

STOP THE WEBISTE. ITS A DOBULE POTS!!!11
posted by Krrrlson at 2:19 PM on May 7, 2005

In other news, FDA to ban DPers.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 2:27 PM on May 7, 2005

:o
posted by blacklite at 2:36 PM on May 7, 2005

the FDA bans gays
the news stirs Metafilter
warrants double post?
posted by VulcanMike at 2:40 PM on May 7, 2005

oh hell. my syllables were off. haiku faux pas. pretend it says "FDA bans gays," please.
posted by VulcanMike at 2:41 PM on May 7, 2005

Two words: turkey. basters.

(didn't get to say it in the other thread)
posted by WolfDaddy at 2:56 PM on May 7, 2005

Anyone got a link to a good torrent site?
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 3:11 PM on May 7, 2005

In other news, FDA to ban DPers.

Well, you can hardly call that 'sex with a another man,'
there being a woman somewhere in-between and all...
posted by greatgefilte at 3:20 PM on May 7, 2005

Well, it IS rather odd that gay sex should bar one, but the old theoretical "unprotected sex with a coven of Haitian prostitutes" doesn't...
posted by clevershark at 3:25 PM on May 7, 2005

MeanMr. Bucket: Dimeadozen.org
posted by schyler523 at 3:58 PM on May 7, 2005

Thanks.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 4:53 PM on May 7, 2005

Suck it, Bucket.
posted by sciurus at 5:05 PM on May 7, 2005

I'm a straight guy and I donate sperm all the time. Donated some in the shower a while ago. Wish it were tax deductable.
posted by newfers at 6:41 PM on May 7, 2005

National Institutes of Health: Title: Men's Heterosexual Behavior and HIV Infection --Adult men who have sex with women play a major role in HIV transmission.

Over one-fourth (28%) of all AIDS cases among men in the US occurred through injection drug use and heterosexual sexual contact. --What Are Heterosexual Men's HIV Prevention Needs? --Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California San Franciso
posted by amberglow at 6:51 PM on May 7, 2005

We have such fun at double posts.
posted by stet at 8:05 PM on May 7, 2005

Dammit, newfers, don't waste human lives like that! You're supposed to send your sperm to B*v*ts.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:35 PM on May 7, 2005

Over one-fourth (28%) of all AIDS cases among men in the US occurred through injection drug use and heterosexual sexual contact

Leaving almost three-quarters (72%) to what exactly?
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 8:41 PM on May 7, 2005

Leaving almost three-quarters (72%) to what exactly?

Women? Heterosexual black women, in particular, perhaps?
posted by AlexReynolds at 11:59 PM on May 7, 2005

Women aren't part of the sample in question.
posted by Tlogmer at 2:13 AM on May 8, 2005

72% of all men in the US are actually hetero black women? Whoah.

Damn, the things I learn on MeFi. :-)

If 28% is from drug use and hetero sex, and there's probably a 1 or 2% catchall, that probably means roughly 70% of all AIDS cases are caught via homosexual sex. If that's the case, and 10% of the male population is gay men, that probably means that about 2/3 of the total AIDS cases are concentrated in 10% of the population. If these assumptions are roughly correct, and if I did the math right, that would mean that a gay male is about 18 times as likely as a straight one to have the disease.

Now, this is bad math in one sense, because I'm ignoring the fact that at least some gay men are getting it through IV or even hetero sex... and I built in some slop in the numbers to account for hetero men who get infected through gay sex. (I have no idea if that's common or not.) The fact that these rough, back of the envelope calculations are in the same approximate ballpark as the '30 times more dangerous' figure in the previous thread, would seem to give it some credence.

And the corollary here, of course, is that banning donations by gay men cuts the risk to fluid recipients by two thirds, in exchange for a 10% reduction in the available supply. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

If this thread survives the Great Mathowie Pruning of Duplicates, hope that's useful to someone.
posted by Malor at 5:34 AM on May 8, 2005

Soon, gay and homosexual could become synonymous with unclean and possibly even walking dead (don't let them touch you, if you get infected we'll put you down just like the rest of 'em!). I started to say that we're on our way to a caste system like the one that India has, but actually, when you think about it, we've been there for ages. The difference between us and them is that we don't like to admit these things, or we put nice terms on them, like class and financial level.
posted by deusdiabolus at 10:07 AM on May 8, 2005

Soon, gay and homosexual could become synonymous with unclean and possibly even walking dead (don't let them touch you, if you get infected we'll put you down just like the rest of 'em!).

Or the first step toward solving a problem is admitting that it exists. It is undeniable that as a gay male you have pretty much the highest liklihood of catching of HIV of any group (at least in the US). In the 1980's we tried to ignore the problem, figured that maybe if we just left it alone long enough it would go away. Look how far that got us.

Does it suck? Absolutely. But denying the existence of cold hard evidence doesn't solve the problem. Making irrational decisions about people's lives doesn't solve the problem.

I used to live in downtown San Francisco (since moved to suburban hell) and I loved going out in the city just because there was such a great mix of people of all orientations and gender identities. Did the AIDS boogeyman stop me from enjoying that? No. If I ever decided to have sex with another man would I make extra-sure to use protection? Absolutely. That's the difference.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 11:48 AM on May 8, 2005

It is undeniable that as a gay male you have pretty much the highest liklihood of catching of HIV of any group

Er, no. Do you just make this stuff up? Try IV drug users, mr. "cold hard evidence."
posted by mediareport at 12:39 PM on May 8, 2005

Soon, gay and homosexual could become synonymous with unclean and possibly even walking dead (don't let them touch you, if you get infected we'll put you down just like the rest of 'em!)

Soon? It was exactly like this in the '80s. Eddie Murphey was telling jokes about not letting gay people touch his girlfriend. Support for gay rights didn't re-reach the levels it had been at in the late '70s until 1994.
posted by Tlogmer at 12:40 PM on May 8, 2005

Er, no. Do you just make this stuff up? Try IV drug users, mr. "cold hard evidence."

Okay, adult homosexual males have the highest liklihood of catching HIV of any sexual orientation group. Happier?

You know what I meant.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 12:55 PM on May 8, 2005