As a gay man, my identity stops me from helping my community
To support student journalism and the content you love, become a member of The Daily Orange today.
I don’t have low iron levels, I’m not anemic or HIV positive. But I can’t be a part of blood drives run by the Red Cross. I can’t be involved in philanthropy events involving the Salvation Army. The only thing in my way of donating to my community is my identity as a gay man.
Syracuse University and organizations like SU’s pre-medical fraternity Phi Delta Epsilon frequently host Red Cross Blood Drives. Campus organizations continue to use the organization as a means of humanitarianism, but are blind to the paradox it creates.
The American Red Cross is the most substantial blood donation organization in the country. It continues to comply with FDA regulations that are rooted in homophobic rhetoric instead of fact. While the FDA has proposed easing restrictions on blood donations, its current policy is to ban donations on men that have had sex with men in the past three months.
The American Medical Association has called on the FDA to change this policy, stating it “discriminates against men who have sex with men, has no scientific basis, and contributes to an inadequate blood supply.” It’s harmful to the LGBTQ community for the Red Cross to not advocate for the FDA to change the policy as an organization with massive influence that is directly benefited by donations.
SU also works with The Salvation Army, which has also had anti-LGBTQ policies, historically and presently.
In 2001, The Salvation Army attempted to make a deal that would allow religious organizations that receive federal funding, like their own, to discriminate against gay people. The Salvation Army also scaled back programs in San Francisco in 1999, a year after the city passed a law that mandated businesses provide equal benefits to straight and same-sex domestic partners. Richard Love, divisional commander for the organization’s Golden State division at the time, said “we simply cannot agree to be in compliance of the ordinance.”
In 2013, HuffPost reported that the Salvation Army’s website had a statement that read, “Scripture opposes homosexual practices by direct comment and also by clearly implied disapproval. The Bible treats such practices as self-evidently abnormal … Attempts to establish or promote such relationships as viable alternatives to heterosexually based family life do not conform to God’s will for society.”
Nonetheless, SU both maintains this relationship and actively enlists its student body to aid in the organization’s mission. SU’s relationship with the Salvation Army extends throughout campus, from clothing drop boxes on South Campus to representatives coming to speak in classrooms, as they did in my SWK 115 class.
Being a member of the LGBTQ community at SU comes with challenges on all levels. As seen recently with the handling of the bias incident at Watson Hall, SU demonstrates a pattern of complacency towards active bigotry on its campus. As a minority on our campus, there is a sense of vulnerability. When egregious acts of hatred against my population take place on our campus, we should be able to trust that SU will swiftly and boldly act. If SU turns a blind eye, my vulnerable population is imminently endangered.
I, like so many others in my community, am dedicated to serving our campus and the community. I either entirely don’t have the ability to participate or I am forced to give up on fighting for my human rights to serve my community because I am stuck between choosing to help a charity and remaining unaccepting towards hatred. This is a decision that no one should be in a place to make.
The city of Syracuse offers a variety of organizations that serve their community, which SU can collaborate with, without discriminating against an already vulnerable population. Planned Parenthood provides education and treatment for all populations as it relates to sexual health, and has resources specifically tailored for at-risk members of the LGBTQ community. The Ronald McDonald House of CNY provides housing and economic and emotional support for families experiencing medical vulnerability. Both organizations and so many others provide support and services to people in our community and beyond. They complete their mission of advancing a population without compromising another.
If we collectively choose to support these organizations and neglect more harmful ones, we can effect change. At the very least, it is our duty to first condemn bigotry against our own. SU can do so by ending their relationships with organizations that are blatantly homophobic or complicit with it. The university cannot claim to have a “commitment to diversity and inclusion” when it is willing to overlook my demographic.
Philanthropy is the cornerstone of our university community. Our community claims to promote community service, social equity and justice, but our attempt at this promotion has been at the expense of our own community. Our path to giving back is rooted in homophobia. I want to donate. I want to volunteer. I want to give back. My blood could save a life, but it won’t. My blood is contaminated because my blood is gay.
Caden Denslow is a social work major on a pre-med track. His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at crdenslo@syr.edu.
