Late metal drummer wanted to donate his organs after his death. The government says he can’t, because he’s gay
Cynic drummer Sean Reinert (Steve Thorne/Redferns)
Late musician Sean Reinert, who was a drummer in metal band Cynic, was not allowed to donate his organs because he was gay, his husband has said.
Reinert was found unresponsive of the floor of his Californian home by his husband Tom last month and was later declared dead. He was just 48 years old, Kerrang! reports.
His husband Tom has now claimed that Reinert was an organ donor, but the Cynic drummer’s organs were refused after his death due to his sexual orientation.
In the Facebook post, shared on Sean’s profile, Tom said he was contacted by the organ donation service at 1am after he arrived home from hospital where his husband had been declared dead.
Husband of gay drummer Sean Reinert was reportedly asked about the musician’s sexual history.
“They notified me that Sean was identified as an organ donor in their database and wanted to ask me some questions about him to proceed,” Tom wrote.
“I could not deal with the stress of this at the time and asked if I could wait to talk to them the next morning and they said although time was of the essence that would be fine as there’s a 24 hour window to harvest organs.”
Because he was a gay man living in America in 2020 he was not allowed one of his final wishes of donating his organs to help save another person’s life.
Tom said he called the organ donation service back the next morning to answer their questions.
“After the first few standard questions she asked if Sean was a sexually active homosexual male. Without thinking I said ‘yes’ and almost without missing a beat she said ‘well, unfortunately that means….’ and I went numb because I knew what she was about to say. She said a few more words and then I interrupted her, said some words back and hung up the phone.”
He continued: “Sean did not have HIV, or any other STDs for that matter. But because he was a gay man living in America in 2020 he was not allowed one of his final wishes of donating his organs to help save another person’s life.
“The government would rather let people waiting for a transplant die than give them one of Seans organs. As his husband it makes me sick to my stomach and incredibly angry.”
In a statement released at the time of his death, Reinert’s husband Tom said he was still trying to piece together how the drummer had died.
Late Cynic drummer’s husband said his world has been ‘shattered’ by the sudden death.
“After coming home from work last night I found Sean unresponsive on the floor, I administered CPR with the assistance of the 911 operator and he was taken to a local hospital via ambulance. There is no cause of death and an autopsy will be performed.
“Sean and I just completed our yearly physicals about 3 weeks ago and we were both in good health. Sean did not have any sort of drug abuse issues and I’m still in a state of disbelief. I can’t begin to comprehend how my life and the lives of Sean’s close friends and family have just been shattered.”
According to a document from the US Health and Human Services Department, there are restrictions in place on sexually active gay and bisexual men donating organs. The document claims that men who have had sex with men (MSM) in the 12 months preceding their death are considered to have an “increased risk” of HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.
PinkNews has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services Department for comment.
