The Outright Ban, 1983-1992

Manitoba Gay Coalition's Recommendation for Blood Donation

Prior to the end of the CRC’s blood and plasma collection operations, the beginning of a blood ban came into place through pamphlets, donor guides, and the intentional deferral of undesirable donors, donors who are at heightened risk of HIV and AIDS. To account for the mounting crisis, the CRC issued a statement on February 7th, 1983, stating that they would introduce voluntary screening for “high-risk” populations, being “‘promiscuous’ gay men, intravenous drug users, and Hatians” (Brown, 271). The Manitoba Gay Coalition further extrapolated on promiscuity in an article that stated, “if in doubt, don’t donate,” stipulating that you should only donate if you have been “homosexually inactive” or “involved in an EXCLUSIVELY monogamous relationship with another who has also been monogamous for 36 months” (Manitoba Gay Coalition). The concept of "promiscuity" also placed a lifetime ban on sex workers through the criteria banning anyone who had “traded sex for money or drugs since 1977.”

Draft report on the impacts of AIDS in the Canadian MSM community and blood and plasma donation

In public discourse, the “4H,” used to refer to “homosexuals, heroin users, hemophiliacs, and Haitians,” became feared. The prospect of these communities being able to donate blood seemed offensive to public safety and security, with these groups being seen as having a higher proclivity to HIV and therefore a threat. Even with the Krever Commission not focusing directly on “high-risk” populations who donated blood as being to blame for the tragedy, it was found that a major part of the scandal was caused by decisions to purchase blood and blood products from the United States of America. The idea that ‘bad blood’ was being purchased by the CRC from “prisons in San Francisco” (Picard and Poulin), further stigmatized incarcerated individuals in a well-known 2SLGBTQIA+ hub, instead of examining how purchasing blood from incarcerated individuals as a form of exploitation and prison labour. As growing fears of HIV transmission as the 1980s progressed, the stipulation of 36 months of abstinence or monogamy as first stated in 1983 grew to a lifetime blood and plasma donation ban for MSM who had any sexual encounters from the 1970s onward, extending to those who use intravenous substances and who are of Haitian origin.