Ban on gay men giving blood

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Thursday it had officially eliminated restrictions that had previously prohibited many blood donations by gay and bisexual men — a longstanding. Blood donation is now more inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community.

Many are now able to donate blood through a new inclusive screening process that expands blood donor eligibility and eliminates questions based on sexual orientation through updated FDA guidelines issued in May Many countries have laws, regulations, or recommendations that effectively prohibit donations of blood or tissue for organ and corneal transplants from men who have sex with men (MSM), a classification irrespective of their sexual activities with same-sex partners and of whether they identify themselves as bisexual or gay.

On May 11, the Food and Drug Administration officially changed its policy allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood as long as they have been monogamous for the previous three months. However, this past May, the FDA dropped all restrictions specific to gay and bisexual men donating blood, moving to a new blood donation risk assessment tool that is the same for every donor regardless of how they identify, which rolled out in August.

Log Out. That was replaced in by a requirement for men to abstain from sex for one year before giving blood. US to allow gay men to be blood donors. This led to the FDA instituting a lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men from donating blood as well as women who have sex with men who have sex with men. For Van Bibber, the desire to donate blood is partly due to family history.

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On May 11, the

All potential donors are screened with a new questionnaire evaluating their HIV risk based on sexual behavior, partners and other factors that can contribute to the spread of blood-borne infections, such as intravenous drug use or recent tattoos or piercings. While blood donations have increased since then, it can take weeks for levels to rebound, the Red Cross said. Not being able to do so because of sexual orientation made him feel excluded from a community he'd been part of for so many years.

Jul 13, PM. The new screening process focuses on individual risk factors. For at least a decade, Chris Van Bibber had been prevented from donating blood. By Mary Kekatos. Blood donation organizations said early data indicates that the policy has made a difference -- bringing back donors who were previously unable to give blood. Bloodworks executive Aaron Posey, whose own life was saved by a transfusion when he fell down a set of stairs and broken glass sliced an artery, welcomed the new guidance.

While there are people like Dominguez and Burdett who donated blood after becoming eligible under the new donor assessment, they acknowledged some gay and bisexual men may still be angry that they were prevented from donating blood previously, even if they were practicing safe sex at the time. Welcome, Mickey.

US FDA relaxes blood donation rules for gay and bisexual men

The change puts the emphasis on sexual activity rather than on sexual orientation. We wouldn't have that figure that they sort of self-deferred before," she said. Scientists and advocates argued that not having policies that backed science was discriminating. It follows several other Western countries that have recently dropped bans or eased restrictions including the United Kingdom, France, Greece and the Netherlands.

However, he said he felt like an outsider compared to the rest of his family who was able to donate while he wasn't. How new FDA rule allowing gay, bisexual men to give blood is making donation more inclusive The new screening process focuses on individual risk factors. In , this was shortened to a period of 90 days of abstinence. And this is about an opportunity to participate in a more just in a more right scientific assessment of risk.

When the couple first heard during the COVID pandemic that the FDA was considering rolling out a new policy that did away with most deferrals, Dominguez was optimistic, but Burdett was doubtful. Blood donations have stabilised since then, but the FDA said the move to an "individual risk-based approach" could expand the donor base. Courtesy of Chris Van Bibber.

In March of this year, Dominguez finally donated blood for the first time, and he did so with his husband, Craig Burdett. Latest Stories U.