and from the Twin Cities

Transgender woman sues plasma collection company for rejecting donation

Her lawsuit in federal court contends that a plasma collection center discriminated against her when it refused to allow her to be a donor.

    Article by: PAUL WALSH , Star Tribune
    Updated: September 26, 2013 - 9:04 PM

Armed with a state ruling in her favor, a transgender woman in Minneapolis contends in a federal lawsuit that a plasma collection ­service discriminated against her when it barred her from donating.

“You people can’t give plasma,” Lisa A. Scott allegedly was told by a CSL Plasma nurse, according to her suit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights investigated the CSL outlet on Washington Avenue SE. and found that the for-profit company discriminated against Scott because of her sexual orientation in 2008 when the nurse told her that she was disqualified.

CSL told state investigators that it has a policy forbidding transsexuals from donating plasma, even though “there are no federal laws prohibiting transsexuals from plasma donation,” the state agency’s findings noted.


For decades, sexual activity between men has been a disqualifier in the United States for donating blood or blood components because of the risk of transmitting the AIDS virus. But pressure is increasing to loosen that prohibition. Rallies were held last summer in 50 cities, including Minneapolis, calling for a change in the rules.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/