Exhibit at AEIVA uses comic books to protest the FDA policy on blood donations by gay men
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration once maintained a lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood.
The FDA lifted that ban in 2015 but still kept a deferral of one year for any man who had sex with another man during the previous 12 months.
In 2020, the agency reduced the deferral period to three months.
According to federal officials, this pre-screening eliminates up to 90% of donors who may carry a blood-borne disease.
However, LGBTQ activists argue this policy is discriminatory and doesn’t make the nation’s blood supply safer.
The nonprofit Human Rights Campaign argues that the FDA policy does not treat people with similar risks in a similar way.
The HRC says donors are deferred based on their membership in a group rather than engagement in risky behavior, such as unprotected sex.
New York-based artist Jordan Eagles is one of the vocal opponents of the federal policy regarding blood donation.
“LGBTQ+ rights, health policies, body autonomy and saving lives are all on the line, and the implications at this moment in time are severe,” Eagles told UAB News. “Even during a global pandemic, and with massive blood shortages, the FDA continues discriminatory policies for donating blood and plasma based on sexual orientation.”
Eagles’ ongoing cycle of art and activism addresses the stigma of “queer” blood and challenges these policies.
His latest exhibition — “Can You Save Superman? II” — responds to the FDA policy and is on view at UAB in 2021.
Curated by Andy Warhol scholar Eric Shiner, “Can You Save Superman? II” opened in January at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at 1221 10th Ave. S.
The exhibition, which comes to AEIVA from the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York City, will remain on display through World Blood Donor Day on June 14, according to UAB News.
Eagles uses vintage comic books whose characters, including Superman and The Hulk, are placed in stories that deal with such topics as blood donation, health care, HIV/AIDS, racism and stigma.
Along with the comics, Eagles uses blood donated from LGBTQ people as a way to reframe the stories.
“Discriminatory and unnecessary deferral periods in place today against gay and bisexual men prevent us from donating blood and helping to save lives in our communities,” Eagles said.
The exhibition includes a 1971 Action Comics, titled “Attack of the Micro-Murderer,” in which Superman is infected by a virus and asks for the people of Metropolis to donate blood to save his life.
Eagles enlarges the cover of the comic and splashes it with the donated blood of a gay man who is on PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, a daily pill that is 99 percent effective in preventing HIV transmission.
The series also features sculptural works that use original comic books that have been laser-cut to hold medical tubes used for collecting blood.
AEIVA will also display two prints from its permanent collection, from Eagles’ series “Our Blood Can Save Them.”
A 1943 World War II poster image was screen-printed using a pint of donated blood from a transgender, pansexual, active United States military service member.
This is Eagles’ second solo exhibition with AEIVA, UAB News says.
The first was in 2017 for his exhibition “Blood Equality,” which corresponded with the display of “Blood Mirror” at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
The works will be physically in the AEIVA lobby and simultaneously online in a virtual exhibition.
View a virtual component online at canyousavesuperman.com.
For more information, visit uab.edu/aeiva.