FDA's Revised Blood Donatn Guidance for Gay Men Still Courts Controversy

Contents:

• UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS
• FDA PROPOS ALLOWG GAY AND BISEXUAL MONOGAMO MEN TO DONATE BLOOD
• FDA LOOSENS RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN, ENURAG BLOOD DONATNS AMID RONAVIS CRISIS
• FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY
• FDA UPDAT BLOOD DONATN RUL OPENG PATH FOR MORE GAY DONORS
• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• CRICS LL TO END THREE-MONTH CELIBACY REQUIREMENT FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AMID BLOOD SHORTAGE
• FDA WILL RELAX BLOOD DONOR RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MEN
• OFFICIALS QUTN WHY FDA CONTU TO RTRICT GAY BLOOD DONORS
• FDA PROPOS EASG BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• THE “GAY BLOOD BAN” ISN’T OVER
• FDA EAS RTRICTNS ON GAY BLOOD DONORS AMID 'URGENT NEED'

UTAH’S ARUP BLOOD SERVIC TO EASE RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MALE DONORS

In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out. In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that.

FDA PROPOS ALLOWG GAY AND BISEXUAL MONOGAMO MEN TO DONATE BLOOD

“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. Gay Water, however, is out and proud.

The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny. “Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.

The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail.

FDA LOOSENS RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN, ENURAG BLOOD DONATNS AMID RONAVIS CRISIS

Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”. For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.

Food and Dg Admistratn announced Friday will ease blood donatn rtrictns on gay and bisexual men, cludg allowg those monogamo relatnships to policy change, which was revealed new draft guidance, after years of urgg by public health experts, blood banks and LGBTQ advocy groups.

FDA UPDAT BLOOD DONATN RUL OPENG PATH FOR MORE GAY DONORS

The new policy would addrs future blood shortag and remove the stigma around gay men, experts say.

MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L

In 2020, amid severe blood shortag durg the start of the COVID-19 panmic, the FDA shortened the abstence perd to 90 policy change means gay and bisexual men monogamo relatnships n donate whout abstag om sex as long as they tt HIV negative and are practicg safe also means the U. S., the Red Cross, along wh One Blood, Valant and partner LGBTQ+ muny health centers, are participatg a pilot study fund by the FDA select ci that uld potentially lead to chang for blood donor eligibily creria for gay and bisexual men. The Food and Dg Admistratn on Thursday said would loosen some of the rtrictns that have blocked gay and bisexual men om donatg agency is changg the remend ferral perd for men who have had sex wh another man om 12 months to three months.

Rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men, and other groups nsired to be high risk for HIV or AIDS transmissn, date back to the 1980's. ET every weekday for special verage of the novel ronavis wh the full ABC News team, cludg the latt news, ntext and FDA said the chang would be implemented immediately and and are expected to rema place after the COVID-19 panmic revised guidance also clus people wh recent tattoos and piercgs and women who have had sex wh a gay or bisexual man; the remend ferral perd is now three months vers 12 Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Blogics Evaluatn and Rearch, said a statement: "Based on recently pleted studi and epimlogic data, we've nclud that the current polici regardg the eligibily of certa donors n be modified whout promisg the safety of the blood supply. Contug to enforce the facto prohibn on blood donatn by sexually active gay and bisexual men do not reflect the bt science available.

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

"In the last week Democratic senators and gay rights advocy groups have lled on the feral ernment to loosen the rtrictns, cg the recent blood shortag ed by the COVID-19 outbreak. "This is a victory for all of who raised our llective voic agast the discrimatory ban on gay and bisexual men donatg blood.

We will keep fightg until the ferral perd is lifted and gay and bi men, and all LGBTQ people, are treated equal to others.

Wh the natn’s blood supply at s lowt pot a , and the Amerin Red Cross clarg s first-ever natnal blood crisis earlier this month, is time for the Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) to do somethg the AMA and others have urged for years: remove s discrimatory ban that prevents many gay and bisexual men om beg blood donors.

CRICS LL TO END THREE-MONTH CELIBACY REQUIREMENT FOR GAY, BISEXUAL MEN AMID BLOOD SHORTAGE

The existg ban requir gay or bisexual men to absta om sex for a mimum of three months before they n donate blood. The roots of limatns agast gay and bisexual blood donors date back to the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s. The FDA has announced a relaxg of s rtrictns on gay men beg allowed to donate blood, light of the ronavis disease 2019 panmic.

FDA WILL RELAX BLOOD DONOR RTRICTNS ON GAY, BISEXUAL MEN

Instead of 1 year, if a male has had sex wh another male, he need only wa 3 months to donate FDA has announced a relaxg of s rtrictns on gay men beg allowed to donate blood, light of the ronavis disease 2019 (COVID-19) panmic.

OFFICIALS QUTN WHY FDA CONTU TO RTRICT GAY BLOOD DONORS

How do they know if a gay man is gay? Harcup, 43, a gay man who liv Florida.

FDA PROPOS EASG BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

And ’s also outrageo to assume that gay men engage more risky sexual behavr than straight men. The revised policy match that the Uned Kgdom, which 2017 implemented a 3-month ferral policy for gay or bisexual men who want to donate blood technician, now a fns entreprenr and owner of, Alistaire Nzek, 34, of Hightstown, New Jersey, poted out, “The whole reason is bee they thk men who sleep wh men are at a higher risk of gettg HIV, " he said.

THE “GAY BLOOD BAN” ISN’T OVER

Jt bee I’m a gay man sleepg wh another men do not make my blood any ls clean. You’re jt as likely to get HIV whether you’re straight or gay. By Brenda Goodman(CNN) -- US Food and Dg Admistratn on Thursday paved the way for more gay and bisexual men to donate blood by falizg new risk-based remendatns for blood donatn.

Gog forward, prospective donors will be asked the same set of qutns regardls of their sex or sexual the FDA began takg a send look at s guidance several years ago, gay and bisexual men had faced a lifetime ban on blood donatn, a move that many said was discrimatory.

FDA EAS RTRICTNS ON GAY BLOOD DONORS AMID 'URGENT NEED'

All rights Your Se ArticlBin Adm Speaks Out About Blood Donatn Policy for Queer Men ›FDA Will Relax Blood Donor Rtrictns on Gay, Bisexual Men ›Senators Urge Liftg of Rtrictns on Gay and Bi Male Blood Donors ›FDA to Overhl Blood Donatn Rul Related to Gay Sex ›Gay & Bisexual Men Now Eligible to Donate Blood Unr New FDA Polici ›.