As Sean finishes filling out the paperwork for today’s visit, he reads the date back to himself: 1/19.
“Dolly Parton’s birthday, right?” he asks. He’s lying on a plastic-covered donor chair, clipboard balanced on his leg as he initials his consent. The phlebotomist who is preparing to take his blood pauses.
“Oh, is it?” she asks. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, yeah. All gay men know that,” Sean laughs. He’s asked WPLN News to use only his first name.
At 49, it’s Sean’s first time giving blood. Last year, the FDA ended a 40-year rule that prohibited gay and bisexual men from giving blood.
“I kind of feel validated, because my blood was not good enough all these years,” he says. “I’ve always tried to give blood and they’ve denied me.”
Blood centers are now looking to Sean and other newly-eligible donors for help. Middle Tennessee’s blood supply is at an all-time low, while natural disasters are keeping demand at an all-time high. When Sean first heard the news that the FDA had changed its policy, he still wasn’t sure if he was going to knock this item off his bucket list.
“I thought, ‘No, Tennessee will block it.’ I thought this would not come. I thought it would get challenged,” he says. “So, to do it in my state is even more special.”
It’s been 13 months since Sean recovered from testicular cancer, and he says the experience put a lot into perspective.
“When you think your life is going to end, everything’s kind of reset. So, I feel like this is a bonus year that I’ve had, and everything looks better. Colors look brighter,” he says. “I’m just glad I’m still here.”
It’s part of why he braved the icy roads to get to this blood drive. Sean and his husband of 21 years are the only two in the donation center at noon.
“I certainly think that the weather has limited people’s ability to drive,” says Del Ray Zimmerman, director of Vanderbilt’s LGBTQ Health program. He helped organize Friday’s blood drive, and he says more blood drives like it are in the works.
“So, we’re looking at today is just the beginning,” Zimmerman says.
It does feel like a beginning for Sean; he says he’ll be back.
“Absolutely. I signed up for automated texting,” he says. “I’ll do this as long as they let me.”
That’s good news for hospitals across the region. From December’s deadly tornadoes to January’s deadly cold, Middle Tennessee’s blood supply is dangerously low.
“It’s a dire situation,” says Blood Assurance spokesperson Max Winitz. “Forgive the pun, but it has been a perfect storm. First the tornado, which wreaked havoc around here, and then these two weather systems that moved through in one week.”
Blood Assurance is increasing the availability of its centers in response to the winter storm. You can find a donation center near you at its website.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM