Why Do FDA Ban ‘Gay’ Blood? - GMHC

Contents:

• FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• NEW BLOOD DONATN RUL TO LOOSEN RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN
• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN N GIVE BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER THE FDA EASED S DONATN POLICI. HERE’S HOW THEY FEEL.
• DISCRIMATN STILL KEEPS MANY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FROM DONATG BLOOD
• WHICH UNTRI PROHIB GAY OR BISEXUAL MEN OM DONATG BLOOD?
• CANADA LIFTS RTRICTNS ON GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD
• DOCTORS SAY 'S TIME TO END BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• BIN ADMISTRATN SPEAKS OUT ON FERAL BLOOD DONATN POLICY IMPACTG GAY MEN AMID NATNAL BLOOD SHORTAGE
• WHY DO FDA BAN ‘GAY’ BLOOD?
• CANADIAN BLOOD SERVIC NOW ALLOWS SOME GAY, BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE PLASMA CALGARY, LONDON, ONT.
• WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?

FDA DROPS BLOOD DONATN RTRICTNS SPECIFIC TO GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

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 has dropped all rtrictns specific to gay and bisexual men donatg blood, a move long anticipated by public health experts and gay rights new guidance, first proposed January and falized Thursday, will not rtrict donatns based on someone's sexual orientatn or genr inty, and stead move towards an "dividual risk-based" approach to rce the risk of accintal HIV fectn through the blood donatn FDA origally banned donatns om gay and bisexual men the midst of the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis. For example, the HIV epimic has spread far beyond gay and bisexual men, wh women acuntg for roughly 1 5 new HIV diagnos the Uned Stat, acrdg to the most recent CDC data available.

Peter Ch-Hong, an fect disease specialist at the Universy of California, San 2015, the FDA relaxed an outright ban on donatns om gay and bisexual men, but the 2015 guidance asked men to absta om sex for at least one year before Thursday's falized guidance, every prospective donor will be asked about their sexual history wh the past three months -- regardls of their sexual orientatn.

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

""The FDA's cisn to follow science and issue new remendatns for all Amerins, regardls of sexual orientatn, who selflsly donate blood to help save liv, signals the begng of the end of a dark and discrimatory past rooted fear and homophobia, " Sarah Kate Ellis, the print and CEO of GLAAD, said a statement, however, took issue wh one part of the updated remendatn, which urg ferral for anyone takg HIV meditns -- cludg people who are HIV negative who are takg meditns lled PrEP to prevent ferral perd uld ntue to erect barriers to LGBTQ blood donors, she said. Durg a prs nference Wednday afternoon, ARUP Blood Servic ma the announcement, makg the first donor center the state to accept donatns om the gay muny. Is movg to ease rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men and other groups that tradnally face higher risks of HIV.

The Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) said Thursday had officially elimated rtrictns that had prevly prohibed many blood donatns by gay and bisexual men — a longstandg policy that crics say is discrimatory. Wh the updated guil, most gay and bisexual men who are a monogamo relatnship wh a man will no longer have to rea om sex orr to donate blood.

BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Print and CEO of GLAAD Sarah Kate Ellis echoed that approval a statement, sayg "The FDA's cisn to follow science and issue new remendatns for all Amerins, regardls of sexual orientatn, who selflsly donate blood to help save liv, signals the begng of the end of a dark and discrimatory past rooted fear and homophobia, " However, Ellis said while the new guidance is a step the right directn, there is still a barrier for LGBTQ+ people who are on PrEP, an FDA-approved dg proven to prevent the transmissn of HIV, who may want to donate blood. " In craftg the new guidance, the FDA has been lookg to the rults of a study of about 1, 600 gay and bisexual men to velop screeng qutns that n intify potential donors who are most likely to be fected wh HIV. Current Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) policy allows for gay and bisexual men to donate blood 3 months after their most recent sexual ntact wh another man if they meet all other eligibily creria.

27, 2023, FDA issued a draft guidance that propos to elimate the tomatic 3-month ferral of gay and bisexual men based on the agency analysis of the current data on HIV transmissn. Dpe this urgent need for donatns, people who have sex wh gay or bisexual men are still facg rtrictns on their abily to give Food and Dg Admistratn bars people who have had sex wh gay or bisexual men om donatg blood for three months followg the most recent sexual ntact bee of fears of HIV the blood agency changed the ferral perd om 12 months to three months November 2020 as blood donatns fell and hospals faced cril shortag durg the first year of the COVID-19 advot, cludg the Human Rights Campaign, say the FDA is movg too slowly on removg the rtrictn, sayg that 's an outright ban on the abily of people, particularly gay and bisexual men, to donate blood.

Rtrictns on blood donatns om gay and bisexual men, who are nsired to be at high risk for HIV or AIDS transmissn, date back to the and bisexual men unrgo dividual risk asssments stead of time-based bans untri around the world, recently cludg Greece and France, acrdg to ternatnal reports. The event was held to prott feral l that effectively ban gay men om donatg Bispg/Star Tribune via Getty Imag, FILEValant told ABC News a new statement that rearchers are halfway toward s goal of enrollg 2, 000 participants across eight ci: Washgton D.

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

They enurage gay and bisexual men who are 18 to 39 years old to participate the FDA, a statement to ABC News, said that this study uld generate data that will help the agency terme if a donor's dividual risk asssment and qutnnaire would be jt as effective rcg the risk of HIV the blood supply as the time-based ferrals the FDA already has FDA also said do not have a specific timele for when the studi will be pleted but that is "mted to gatherg the scientific data that n support alternative donor ferral polici that mata a high level of blood safety.

NEW BLOOD DONATN RUL TO LOOSEN RTRICTNS ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Said the new guil would be more clive and were based on a review of data om other Fremson/The New York TimThe Food and Dg Admistratn plans to revise a longstandg policy that exclud most gay and bisexual men om blood donatn, stead adoptg an approach that will screen donors pendg on their recent sexual activy, agency officials said on move follows years of cricism om L. In 2015, the agency allowed gay and bisexual men to donate if they had not had sexual ntact wh other men for the prev perd was rced to three months after severe blood shortag durg the Covid-19 F.

GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN

Said the agency’s proposal was an important step forward that would enable him — a gay married man — and many others to perform an important public service. Said the new approach would be genr-clive — the screeng would also apply to women who have sex wh gay and bisexual men — and would foc on dividual risk, not blanket prohibns on groups.

LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS

”But, as a gay man, he said that not havg the abily to donate blood had ma him feel “shunned by the ernment, ” and he was disappoted that the change took so long. More about Ey AnthA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 21 of the New York edn wh the headle: New Blood Donatn Rul to Loosen Rtrictns on Gay and Bisexual Men.

Close this ntentKSTUKSTUJuly 19, 2023 at 8:17 AMGay men who were once unable to donate blood were able to participate blood driv for the very first time. But there is one easily implementable solutn to the natnal blood-supply shortage that’s been available for years and uld be a lifele: allowg gay and bisexual men to donate eely. S., gay and bisexual men (often referred to as MSM, or “men who have sex wh men”) are not allowed to give blood if they’ve had sex wh another man the past three months.

“It is my opn that we ntue to have a real problem wh laws and regulatns based on fear rather than science, ” she ntuatn of a MSM-specific barrier to givg is not only limg the blood supply, ’s unnecsary and “rooted homophobia, ” explas Perry N.

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN N GIVE BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER THE FDA EASED S DONATN POLICI. HERE’S HOW THEY FEEL.

”In 2015, theFDA loosened s rtrictn, permtg gay and bisexual men to donate blood as long as they hadn’t had sex wh another man the past year.

DISCRIMATN STILL KEEPS MANY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FROM DONATG BLOOD

Conducted tanm wh the natn’s largt blood centers—the Amerin Red Cross, Valant, and OneBlood—the rearch effort will survey 2, 000 gay and bisexual men across the untry between the ag of 18 and 30 who have had sex wh at least one man the past three months. So a ban like this isn’t jt harmful to the Amerin public; “’s credibly harmful to the gay muny, both emotnally and physilly.

The first step is to sign GLAAD’s petn at You then n—and should—te those around you, “sce many people, cludg gay and bi men, don’t know that this ban exists, ” adds Lasky. Jefey Marks, a 62-year-old wrer livg Ccnati has btersweet feelgs about the Food and Dg Admistratn’s recent cisn to ease rtrictns on queer men donatg a close iend fell ill many years ago, Marks had tried donatg blood at the iend's requt but he was turned away om performg the potentially life savg act bee he was gay, spe havg been a long-term monogamo relatnship wh a man for years. "The s-long FDA ban on queer men donatg, begun 1983, was direct rponse to the HIV/AIDS crisis, which disproportnately affected gay and bisexual men.

WHICH UNTRI PROHIB GAY OR BISEXUAL MEN OM DONATG BLOOD?

Later, 2020, beme a three-month perd, due to an creased need for donatns the early days of, on May 11, the FDA enacted a plan to lift all rtrictns that directly target gay and bisexual men, choosg stead to asss all donors equally, regardls of their genr or sexual inty. “When my iends asked why I was leavg so abptly I had to expla that I’m gay and sexually active, and I n’t donate bee they’re worried about HIV, ” says Mart, who had yet to e out to all of his new iends.

Advot say that if the policy nyg gay and bisexual men the abily to give blood jt bee they have been sexually active was elimated, 345, 400 to 615, 300 pts of blood uld potentially be add to the system each year, cg a 2014 analysis by the Williams Instute, a public policy rearch center at UCLA.

While Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), an HIV/AIDS service anizatn, is enuraged by the FDA’s chang to protol around blood donatn, Jason Cianctto, s vice print of munitns and policy, has voiced ncerns around the FDA’s remendatns beg “nonbdg, ” as well as s e of outdated data to asss the HIV risk wh regards to men who have sex wh other men. It scribed how the disease attacks the immune system and listed the groups most at risk, cludg gay men who had several sexual partners and traveno dg ers. But on June 14th Bra swched to an dividual risk-asssment system for all as scientists have learned more about HIV/AIDS— is transmted via bodily fluids and n afflict people of any sexualy—many untri have remaed ut about blood donatn by gay and bisexual men.

CANADA LIFTS RTRICTNS ON GAY MEN DONATG BLOOD

OTTAWA (AP) — Health Canada on Thursday lifted rtrictns on gay men donatg blood, a move Prime Mister Jt T said was “good news for all Canadians” but had taken too long.

Health Canada approved the requt by Canadian Blood Servic to end the policy that rtricts homosexuals om donatg blood for three months after engagg gay sex. Several chang were later ma to the blood donatn regime until ferral perds for donatns by gay men were lowered om a lifetime ban to three months 2019. "It's te that there's a higher prevalence of HIV among gay and bisexual men, but the vast majory of gay and bisexual men don't have HIV, " said Sean Cahill, director of health policy rearch for the Fenway Instute.

"And so this kd of puts out this ia that HIV is a gay disease, and I really do thk ntribut to stigma and discrimatn agast gay men.

DOCTORS SAY 'S TIME TO END BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

the New England Journal of Medice last year lookg at the rults of a cisn by the Uned Kgdom to drop a siar ban, and llg for the Uned Stat to do the add the ban n put gay and bisexual men a difficult posn when blood driv are held, forcg them to disclose their sexualy, or seem like they're choosg not to participate an altistic Wu remembers the first time he learned that he was not able to give blood bee of his sexualy, at a blood drive llege. "As a gay man, there is somethg that strik a eply paful nerve by beg told that your blood is tated, that the blood that urs through you is que lerally worthy only of beg disrd, " he asked about the agency's current policy, an FDA spokperson poted to a study is fundg lled.

BIN ADMISTRATN SPEAKS OUT ON FERAL BLOOD DONATN POLICY IMPACTG GAY MEN AMID NATNAL BLOOD SHORTAGE

For the first time, the Bin admistratn is mentg on the Food and Dg Admistratn's long-time blood donatn guil, which are impactg the LGBTQ+ muny by preventg gay and bisexual men om beg eligible blood statement, ma by a Whe Hoe official exclively to ABC News, acknowledg the paful origs of the policy and on the heels of the Amerin Red Cross clarg their first-ever natnal blood crisis last week, as suppli at hospals and blood banks bee dangeroly low.

WHY DO FDA BAN ‘GAY’ BLOOD?

Policy holds that sexually active gay or bisexual men mt absta om sex for at least three months before they're allowed to donate blood. It also clus gay and bisexual COVID-19 survivors who wish to donate nvalcent plasma, rich wh antibodi, for ’s PicksThe rtrictn on blood donatns me out of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s, when limed ttg technology and pacy existed to screen blood for HIV. In 1983, the FDA implemented a lifetime ban on blood donatns om all men who had sex wh men after FDA removed the lifetime ban and enacted a 12-month ferral perd 2015, meang gay or bisexual men had to absta om havg sex wh other men for at least 12 months before donatg blood.

Blood supply is dangeroly low bee of a sharp drop donatns durg the COVID-19 so, gay and bisexual men, clilly referred to as “men who have sex wh men” or MSM, are still beg told that their blood is too “dangero” to donate. MSM mt be celibate for three months to give blood bee of a Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) policy datg back 40 years to the onset of the AIDS ban do harm by perpetuatg the stigma that HIV/AIDS is a “gay disease, ” said Jason Cianctto, GMHC’s vice print of munitns and policy.

CANADIAN BLOOD SERVIC NOW ALLOWS SOME GAY, BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE PLASMA CALGARY, LONDON, ONT.

“It suggts there is somethg herently wrong and ‘dirty’ about gay and bisexual men that mak them diseased and dangero to others.

People livg wh HIV also n’t FDA’s blanket ferral clus many HIV-negative people wh a low-to-zero risk of HIV fectn, and accurately suggts all gay and bisexual men are livg wh stance, although Cianctto and his hband are not an open relatnship, the three-month celibacy perd still appli. Dpe enormo advanc scientific knowledge about HIV transmissn and the advent of highly accurate blood screeng tts, the FDA has not changed s policy targetg gay and bisexual HIV and AIDS was rrectly labeled a “gay disease” the early 1980s, the FDA imposed a lifetime blood donatn ban on any man who’d had sex wh another man sce 1977, along wh sex workers, traveno dg ers and people livg wh HIV.

WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?

This wdow is signifintly ls than the three months of celibacy required by the ’s roleFor s, GMHC has been fightg the discrimatory ban bee falsely stigmatiz gay and bisexual men as rriers of a “gay disease.

Prompted by the COVID-19 epimic, the FDA December 2020 signed off on a pilot study for three major blood centers, the Amerin Red Cross, Valant and OneBlood, to do jt ADVANCE Study is recg 2, 000 gay and bisexual men eight ci to supply a blood sample and answer behavral qutns about HIV risk factors.

They have not yet been able to rec the requise 2000 gay and bisexual men, perhaps bee the study self, by focg solely on this populatn, perpetuat the stigma of “gay blood. ”“At a time when I was still figurg out my inty, the ernment was affirmg harmful thgs I had been raised to believe about myself: If you are gay, you will die alone om AIDS, ” he hasn’t been advotg all the years to endg the discrimatory ferral perd jt so gay and bisexual men n give blood, Cianctto said. ”Thirty years after Cianctto’s troublg experience, a gay male teen tryg to do their civic duty and give blood will still be asked if they’ve had sex wh a man—and turned away if the answer is y.