Man whose husband was denied wish to donate tissue in N.S. files human rights complaint

Liam Dee died from a rare and aggressive cancer last Nov. 10. A donation screening form from that date says his tissues were declined due to his "homosexual status."

A Nova Scotia man has filed a federal human rights complaint alleging discrimination after his husband’s dying wish to donate bodily tissues such as skin and bones was denied due to his sexual orientation.

Jacob MacDonald’s complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission names multiple agencies including Health Canada, Canadian Blood Services, the Nova Scotia Health Authority and a tissue specialist who he said also discriminated against him based on the couple’s marital and family status.

Liam Dee died from a rare and aggressive cancer last Nov. 10. A donation screening form from that date says his tissues were declined due to his “homosexual status.”

MacDonald said Dee was considered a high-risk tissue donor because of his marriage to a man and the likelihood that he had sex in the previous five years, cited as a factor in increased risk of transmitting HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

The latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada suggests that of the new 1,520 HIV infections in 2020, 666 were among men who reported having sex with a man in the previous six to 12 months, representing 43.8 per cent of total cases — down from 46.5 per cent in 2018. There were 511 new HIV cases among the heterosexual population in 2020, representing 33.6 per cent of cases. That’s down from 34.4 per cent in 2018.

In Nova Scotia, as in some other provinces, men who have sex with men must be abstinent for five years if they want to donate tissues as part of a policy aimed at preventing transmission of such infectious diseases to recipients.

But the screening form, completed by a nurse at a hospice in Kentville, N.S., indicates 26-year-old Dee did not have any of those infectious diseases.

MacDonald said while Dee’s sexual orientation was listed as the reason why his tissues were rejected, no one spoke to him for any assessment, which would have revealed the couple was in a monogamous relationship for over four years and did not engage in risky sex.