A Nova Scotia man has filed a federal human rights complaint alleging discrimination after his husband's dying wish to donate bodily tissues was denied due to his sexual orientation.
Jacob MacDonald's complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commissionnames multiple agencies including the Nova Scotia Health Authority, Health Canada, Canadian Blood Services and a tissue specialist.
Twenty-six-year-old Liam Dee died from a rare and aggressive cancer last November, when a donation screening form listed ``homosexual status'' as the reason for declining his tissues.
MacDonald says Dee was considered a high-risk tissue donor because he'd had sex with another man in the previous five years,cited as a factor in increased risk of transmitting H-I-V, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, even though the couple was in a monogamous relationship for four years.
He notes an advanced H-I-V test can detect the virus seven days after someone has been exposed so the five-year abstinence time frame doesn't make sense.
The abstinence period is 12 months in Canada, except in Nova Scotia and five other provinces where tissue banks are voluntarily accredited by an American organization, which requires five years of abstinence for men who have sex with men if they want to donate their tissues.
All the agencies named in the complaint have declined to comment before the commission reviews the case to determine if it will be forwarded to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.