OK.. I am looking for thoughts and ideas..
I have donated blood for 35 years..
I recently came out as transgender and all my papers and ID's have my new name and gender..
I have no events in my life that would disqualify me ( as either gender )
I was banned for life yesterday for no other reason than being Transgender..
The screener was not the problem.. it was her boss over the phone..
I am thinking about playing the discrimination card because I am a federal employee and we
were in a federal building and transgenders are a protected class..

I saw something on this a while back and it's really primitive thinking. They assume because of the sex change you have now had same sex relations so they classify you as gay and are not allow to donate blood. If you haven't had sex you have a pretty good argument for being allowed to donate blood. The other argument is I believe they have relaxed the limits on gays so they shouldn't be restricting you. You may need to appeal this decision at a much higher level but you are dealing with some pretty backwards thinking when today it's so easy to check blood for aids. The restriction made some sense before the test were developed but not now.

the process of transitioning has for the most part have gone way better than I expected.. i consider myself very lucky... Its the stupid little stuff like this that keep tripping me up...

I've heard rumors that they're re-thinking this policy so pushing the issue is worthwhile. I've been banned for life for decades due to blood pressure issues and my body's weird reaction to trauma so, unfortunately, I can't give.

I was banned/flagged a long time ago due to possible exposure to beef tainted with mad cow disease back in the early 70's while stationed in italy - still haven't gone mad and certainly not turned into a cow so i don't know

be well
jenifer