gay blood row: gla stirs up confusion

By Jenni Evans

January 16, 2006: There was no clarity on Monday on whether a protest campaign by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GLA) against a ban on gay blood donors actually took place.

The GLA claimed it had recruited more than 100 gay men to donate blood to the SA National Blood Services without disclosing their sexual activities.

SA National Blood Services CEO Anthon Heyns said the organisation was not able to find any record of the people who the GLA claimed had donated blood.

"We got the names (by fax) of eight executive members of the (GLA) who reportedly donated blood on Friday the 13th and the SANBS and the Western Province Blood Transfusion Services have not been able to trace any forms or any records of them on our computer system."
He acknowledged that they could have used false names but said that there had been no spike in donations to support the number of donations that the GLA claims have been made.

Publicity on the matter sparked an outpouring of statements and phone calls from representatives of gay communities across the country.

These bodies condemned the GLA's actions, dismissing its "campaign" as a publicity ploy.

Established gay and lesbian organisations have long since distanced themselves from GLA's media initiatives, with some accusing it of racism and refusing to accept the new South Africa. Some gay groups question whether GLA actually exists.

Luiz de Barros, editor of gay lifestyle website mambaonline.com said: "I have been... active in many organisations and know many people and none of us have ever been able to get proof of (GLA's) membership. None of us know one single person who is a member of GLA.

"This is probably a non-event - a hoax - and the editors have completely bought into it."

However, Heyns said the blood service was taking the matter seriously and was seeking legal advice on its options.

"We believe that if a person donates blood and infects some and if they deliberately and knowingly misrepresented the facts on the self-exclusion questionnaire, we will take steps to ensure that such a donor is accountable for his actions."

The service is still reeling from a furore over its previous discrimination against black donors, which forced it to buy new equipment and introduce new screening methods so that it would not use race as a risk indicator for HIV.

GLA's David Baxter said on Monday that it was extending its campaign to defy the SANBS rules and was calling on HIV positive gay men to lie about their health and also donate blood.

He said that more than 100 new donations had been made on Monday and claimed the GLA membership of 100 000 male members were being called on to join the campaign.

Campaign organisers were being offered R5 000 for every 100 "honesty cards" they could produce as proof of donations by its members.

These cards are issued to give a donor an opportunity to have their donations disposed of afterwards.

"We want to force a complete shutdown of the system because if gay blood is not allowed, then it should be shut down," said Baxter.

He said the call was not irresponsible as the SANBS had claimed that it could detect HIV in its donations.

Baxter denied claims that he was "one man with a fax machine" who goes under a number of pseudonyms including Johan Uys and supplied telephone numbers and a street address for the office and for Uys.

The cellphone numbers he provided were not answered and a reporter based at Sapa's Cape Town office went to 37 Strand street, the street address Baxter supplied.

He was told by a porter that the organisation had once had an office there, but had since moved to an address he did not know.

The Triangle project said in a statement, "The so-called organisation does not have an address or a land-line phone number and all previous efforts to meet with the GLA have failed."

It continued: "However, several elements of the news media chose to print to GLA's latest bizarre statements as fact without authenticating the story."

This had undermined the public's faith in the safety of the national blood supply and painted the gay community as being militant and highly irresponsible.

"We call on the SA National Blood Service to explore criminal charges against all persons who have claimed to have been involved in attempting to undermine the safety of the national blood pool," the project said.

The SA Human Rights Commission confirmed that it had received a complaint on the SANBS's policy from Baxter.

Meanwhile, the SANBS said that it was aware that the question asking men if they had sex with men was gender-insensitive.

Spokesperson Ianthe Exall said that plans were afoot to change the question and ask simply if the potential donor had anal sex in the last five years. - Sapa