Khoon ka rishta

I spent this week in and out of television studios considering NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation) mentioned that people from the LGBTQI community could not donate blood.

Using statistics to call a group a "high risk group" may seem right for some, but to label everyone in the MSM (men who have sex with men) community as potential carriers of HIV grossly adds to the prejudice that the LGBTQI community already braves.

Here's my argument — all blood needs to be checked before transfusion. Every time someone donates blood, there are a few mandatory questions that are asked to evaluate whether the donor's blood is free of infections. Of these, evaluation of safe sexual practices and absence of any intravenous drug habit are the most important ones.

So, if there are LGBTQI people who confess to safe sexual practices, it should be allowed. Also, all blood bottles need to be tested before transfusion. We have a reason to worry if that is not being done already. And using what data are we confirming that heterosexual men and women have safe sex? Speaking about heterosexual unsafe sex and multiple partners, one just needs to watch Lipstick Under My Burkha to see how Sushant Singh's character, who is married and has a girlfriend, refuses to use condoms even when his wife insists.

HIV doesn't discriminate, humans do. In fact, I got into a conversation with a doctor in a train who said that he could tell if a person was gay just by looking at him. I congratulated him on his "gaydar" that was better than mine and asked him if he was Superman or Krishh. I told him that I couldn't even conclusively say that he is heterosexual by just looking at him. He then insisted that there was in fact no prejudice. I had to remind him that his previous statement was the biggest example of prejudice and ignorance and that there are many effeminate straight men and many, many non-effeminate gay men.

And for those who still think this is not "that" discriminatory and we gay people are making a "mountain of a mole hill" — imagine you have a rare blood group and wish to donate blood to your loved one whose blood group matches yours but the blood bank refuses simply because you are gay. Imagine the plight of a person trapped in such a situation.

The issue of blood donation could have far reaching consequences and could be the first step towards more gross violations of human rights. It's important that we nip such discrimination in the bud and don't allow it to proliferate. It's important that we speak up now for quick screening mechanisms to investigate if the blood is contaminated, than banning a group of people from donating blood – a group that is fighting prejudices day in and day out.

How about instead repeating the words of Subhash Chandra Bose, "Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhein azaadi doonga"

Simple. Azaadi dyaa... khoon ghyaa!

(Activist Harish Iyer shares his entertaining adventures through Mumbai’s landscape)

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