Banned for life: Why gay men still n't donate blood

Contents:

• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• BANNED FOR LIFE: WHY GAY MEN STILL N'T DONATE BLOOD
• WHY SO MANY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN N’T DONATE BLOOD THE U.S.
• THIS IS THE REASON WHY GAY MEN CAN’T DONATE BLOOD
• NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY
• FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY
• DOCTORS SAY 'S TIME TO END BAN ON BLOOD DONATNS OM GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• DISCRIMATN STILL KEEPS MANY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FROM DONATG BLOOD
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN
• WHY N'T GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD?
• DPE BLOOD SUPPLI CRILLY LOW, SOME GAY MEN STILL CANNOT DONATE PLASMA
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL

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

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.

BANNED FOR LIFE: WHY GAY MEN STILL N'T DONATE BLOOD

”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.

WHY SO MANY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN N’T DONATE BLOOD THE U.S.

For example, if you’re a gay man who wears ndoms durg sex, you lim your risk of ntractg HIV. Same go for gay men who are married or a long-term monogamo relatnship. 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.

”The policy change uld have a signifint posive effect on the mental health of gay and bisexual men, too.

THIS IS THE REASON WHY GAY MEN CAN’T DONATE BLOOD

It also puts gay and bisexual men at higher risk for acquirg HIV over time.

NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY

“Social and stctural factors that e gay men to feel othered e them to engage risky sexual behavr, ” Halkis says. 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. Let them know you don’t support discrimatory practic that ban gay and bisexual men om dog their civic duty. "Chip Somovilla / Getty ImagLike lns of other gay men, Dassey ed to give blood a few tim a year whout a send thought.

"If you are a gay man, and you answer that qutn tthfully, the rult is a lifetime ban. " The FDA classifi all gay men the hight-risk blood-donor tegory -- the same tegory as IV dg ers and people who've spent more than five years sce 1980 a untry that has mad w disease.

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

Even wh a clean bill of health, a gay man is nsired more of a threat to the blood supply than a straight man who was treated for chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, venereal warts, and genal herp wh the past year. The FDA, other words, nsirs the sort of man who pays women for sex to be healthier -- and his blood ls of a risk to you -- than a man who last had sex wh another man 30 years 's bee gay men, the FDA argu, are at "creased risk of certa transfn transmissible fectns" like AIDS and hepatis B. And that argument isn't necsarily whout mer: Gay men make up roughly half of the patients livg wh HIV the Uned Stat, spe acuntg for jt four percent of the populatn.

Prsured to take actn, the FDA did the only thg possible and banned the group of people most likely to spread the vis: sexually active gay men. In addn to the Uned Stat, several other untri still have lifetime bans agast gay blood donors place, cludg France, Germany, Swzerland, Norway, and Denmark.

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

More recently, however, other parts of the world have started to rensir the policy's and Spa, for example, no longer specifilly exclu gay men. They are the cx of every argument for overturng the ban on gay donors worldwi. At the time, all hospals bed need about 80, 000 uns of blood daily, but the Red Cross uld liver only 36, banks have managed to close the gap sce then, but they still ntue to advote on behalf of gay donors.

DISCRIMATN STILL KEEPS MANY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN FROM DONATG BLOOD

"The FDA's lifetime blood donor ferral affectg gay men vlat our nondiscrimatn policy, " Kassg wrote a memo to the mp that momentum has only ntued to build. As I like to tell people now, the H HIV stands for 'Human' -- not 'Homosexual'. "Jt bee you're gay don't make you higher risk than someone who isn't, " Zgman says.

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

This is about behavr; 's not about beg gay. The policy stigmatiz gay men. "I started givg blood llege, and I didn't e out as a gay man until I was 39, " says Bill S., a donor om Philalphia who spoke to Men's Health anonymoly.

"More importantly, as an overwhelmg body of evince now suggts, n save liv whout endangerg Emmy Derisbn, the woman who spired the Banned4Life movement, put , "I'll never ask, 'Is that gay blood? 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.

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

Origally, gay and bisexual men were pletely prohibed om donatg 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. So monogamo gay men uld start donatg blood aga sometime 2023.

WHY N'T GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD?

Back the 1980s, the FDA placed rtrictns on blood donatns by gay men. When the ban was started, 1985, blood banks had limed abili to tt blood products, so they banned donatns om several groups who were found to have higher rat of HIV disease, cludg gay men.

Has still mataed a fairly regrsive policy that a lot of people believe puts irratnal or homophobic rtrictns on who uld donate blood. In 2015, the ban was changed to one year, meang a gay man would have to absta om sexual activy for a full year orr to donate blood. And many people have regard even this ls rtrictive ban as a homophobic and outdated procs.

DPE BLOOD SUPPLI CRILLY LOW, SOME GAY MEN STILL CANNOT DONATE PLASMA

For many gay and bisexual man, is still effectively a ban. Many people fd this nature of the ban—the difference l for gay vers straight people—homophobic, and kd of appropriate given where the science and need is.

The rat of HIV are, unfortunately, higher gay and bisexual men than lbians.

For example, a gay man a monogamo relatnship would be at low risk of HIV acquisn, but still be banned om blood donatn currently. Ernment gog om 12 months to three months rtrictns for gay men, but the realy is that is still a rtrictn on a lot of people who would be willg participants om donatg blood.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL

There may be gay men who have revered om COVID-19 and terted donatg their plasma, potentially wh valuable antibodi their plasma. New Atralian blood donatn l for gay men don’t go far enough, advot sayNew l that change the barriers facg gay men who want to donate blood Atralia don’t go far enough, advot blood donatn l for gay men have e to effect on Sunday allowg them to give blood if they have been celibate for three measure has dramatilly slashed that wag perd om 12 months – which effectively banned gay men om donatg – but advot say still discrimat agast many who would wish to year the Atralian Red Cross’s Lifeblood service announced the l would be changed om January 31, 2021, after a review of s sexual activy ferral new le, which also apply to transgenr people who have had sex wh a man, appli to oral and anal sex – wh or whout a Theraptic Goods Admistratn approved Lifeblood’s plan to cut the wag perd, and to also allow homosexual men to donate plasma and platelets.

”Gay men had prevly been banned om donatg durg the height of the AIDS epimic the 1980s, wh those l lgerg for new change me followg a ph for blood donors durg the COVID-19 panmic, wh MPs Alex Greenwich and Dr Time Read volly supportg the move their rpective stat of NSW and Victoria. “The current ernments of both the Uned Stat and the Uned Kgdom are mted to replacg their gay blood bans wh dividual risk asssment, and ‘s time for Atralia to do the same. ”The study also showed that among gay men who would donate blood, the prevalence of HIV is lower than the general populatn, Mr Croome said.