Hi guys ! Sometime back, i had gone to donate blood at the bloodbank of Lilavati Hospital at Bandra, for a friend of mine, who was in urgent need of it. Before the needful was done however, we had to fill in a (sort of) medical history form where stuff like whether u were sufferring from asthma, jaundice etc. were asked.....pretty normal fare. And then, i froze ! Somewhere down below was a qustion "R U a homosexual ?" I was obviously shocked !
What is the need for asking such a stupid question ? How on earth could a respectable hospital like Lilavati, where all the top filmstars etc. go for their treatment, be so regressive ? I asked 1 of my doctor pals & he said that the Govt. of india had definetly not made any such idiotic norm. Then why this discrimination ? The only reason i could come up with was that because of the stereotype of gays being promiscious, we perhaps fell under some kind of high-risk category & hence, if i'd have ticked "yes", they'd have denied me permission to donate blood, DESPITE me being completely healthy ! But why this discrimination against us ? Does this mean that heterosexuals have "purer" blood ? For all u know, the hetero guy/gal standing by my side might be HIV+ve while I am not & still my blood may not be given, purely for me being a gay.....and the patient may just die. I was reminded of one episode in Queer as Folk (the US version) where Brian is denied from giving his blood to save Mike, just because he was gay.If this can happen in a "developed" society like the US, what abt. lesser mortals like us ? VERY HESITATINGLY, i had to tick the "No" column, as the patient reqd. blood urgently and there was no time to be wasted on arguments. It wrenched my heart, but i didn't have any option. I had to attend to another urgent engagement that day due to which, i had to push off early. Do other hospitals in Bby, or for that matter, anywhere else in India, ask for this criterion ? What logic does it serve ? Thought that i'd bring it to the attention of every member of this group... Icarius
