For two s, the Food and Dg Admistratn has prohibed gay and bisexual men om givg blood as a preutn agast AIDS. But three major blood llectn agenci, cludg the Amerin Red Cross, argue the practice is no longer warranted. The FDA disagre. Joel Gsberg, head of the Gay and Lbian Medil Associatn, says the ban unfairly discrimat.
Contents:
- AMERIN RED CROSS URG FDA TO EASE BAN ON BLOOD DONATN POLICY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
- AMERIN RED CROSS FIGHTS BAN ON GAYS' BLOOD
- COLUMN: TWO GAY MEN WALK TO A RED CROSS BLOOD DONATN CENTER ...
- AMERIN RED CROSS GO WOKE, CELEBRAT ALLOWG MORE GAY MEN TO DONATE BLOOD, WANTS DONORS TO 'SELF-INTIFY' THEIR GENR
- ADVANCE STUDY ON DONATN ELIGIBILY REQUIREMENTS FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
- KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
AMERIN RED CROSS URG FDA TO EASE BAN ON BLOOD DONATN POLICY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
Learn about feral regulatns related to blood donatn by Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and Genr non-nformg (LGBTQ+) dividuals. * red cross gay men *
The Amerin Red Cross wants the Food and Dg Admistratn to change s policy on blood donatn for gay and bisexual current FDA guil, men who have sex wh men n only donate blood at least one year after their last sexual Red Cross wants to slash the wag perd by a a statement released Thursday, the anizatn urged the FDA to “nsir rcg s ferral time for men who have sex wh men (MSM) om twelve to three months while further optns are evaluated for the Uned Stat. For two s, the Food and Dg Admistratn has prohibed gay and bisexual men om givg blood as a preutn agast AIDS.
Joel Gsberg, head of the Gay and Lbian Medil Associatn, says the ban unfairly discrimat. But one group is officially not weled to participate - gay men. Wh me to talk about this is Joel Gsberg, head of the Gay and Lbian Medil Associatn.
JOEL GINSBERG (Director, Gay and Lbian Medil Associatn): Hi.
AMERIN RED CROSS FIGHTS BAN ON GAYS' BLOOD
* red cross gay men *
Given jt those two issu, why would we even nsir allowg gay men to beg donatg aga?
COLUMN: TWO GAY MEN WALK TO A RED CROSS BLOOD DONATN CENTER ...
For s, fears over HIV tatg the blood supply all but banned gay men at Red Cross donatn centers. Now that the l are changg, a Malibu uple joed a blood drive * red cross gay men *
Our ncern is that there isn't a scientific jtifitn for excludg low-risk gay men while acceptg high-risk heterosexuals.
So to give you an example, take a gay male uple that's been together for 20 years, and they have a monogamo relatnship and they have tted negative for HIV.
I'm ncerned that they haven't perhaps ma as much effort as they should have to make sure that the policy is science based, bee the subject here is gay men. GINSBERG: They also would not have been as quick to bar other groups, as they have been to bar gay men. Bee somehow movg down that path terms of human st would be unacceptable, and I wonr why we don't have the same standards for gay men.
AMERIN RED CROSS GO WOKE, CELEBRAT ALLOWG MORE GAY MEN TO DONATE BLOOD, WANTS DONORS TO 'SELF-INTIFY' THEIR GENR
The Food and Dg Admistratn has announced that has relaxed even further the rtrictns placed on gay men who want to donate blood, and seems that the Amerin Red Cross uldn't be ARC, operatn wh s LGBTQ+ Team Member Rource Group, issued a statement celebratg... * red cross gay men *
Our posn is simply that the same creria should be ed for gay men as are ed for other groups, and our sense is that that's not the se now. MARTIN: Would allowg gay men to donate blood really improve the supply and availabily?
GINSBERG: It is te that earlier on, when gay men were allowed to donate, they donated high numbers.
There's a lot of altism the gay male muny, and folks want to be full members of society and do their part. MARTIN: Given a number of other sort of social and health ncerns that gay men already face, why is this an issue for you to take on, for your anizatn to take on? GINSBERG: When gay men's bodi are stigmatized as dirty, regardls of the behavr that they make, you're sendg the msage that HIV risks and other risks of sexually transmted diseas is not about your behavr.
ADVANCE STUDY ON DONATN ELIGIBILY REQUIREMENTS FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
The Amerin Red Cross has partnered wh the FDA and several other blood centers for the ADVANCE Study to gather data that uld lead to chang donor eligibily for gay and bisexual men and the LGBTQ+ muny. * red cross gay men *
It's the general stigmatizatn of gay men that lower qualy of re to be livered to gay men and gay men to avoid seekg re the first place. MARTIN: I thk that the qutn that many people would have is - and I unrstand that you're not a doctor - but do you believe that gay men who are engaged safe sex practic nsistently n safely donate blood?
There's absolutely no risk for a gay man who is HIV-negative and only have safe sex wh other people who are HIV-negative or who has any kd of sex wh men who are HIV negative - 's scientifilly impossible for that person to ntract HIV or to spread . Given all the ways that people n opt out whout stigma, is still the se that gay men are sgled out by their - by the cisn to not allow them to donate as a group? It's extremely important to gay and bisexual men and lbians and transgenr folks.
KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
MARTIN: Joel Gsberg is executive director of the Gay and Lbian Medil Associatn. Afterward, they snacked on mi-Oreos and sipped om ty juice all seemed very this was a totally new experience for Jeremy Walker, 55, and his hband, Judd Stark, 59, gay men who me of age at the ighteng dawn of the AIDS era.
(Mel Meln / Los Angel Tim) In 2015, the FDA lifted s total ban and replaced wh a one-year abstence requirement for gay men. Five years later, amid the COVID- 19 panmic 2020, the FDA shortened the abstence perd to three jt last month, the agency falized new guil for termg the eligibily of each prospective blood donor — not jt gay men or, say, sex workers — dividually, wh a seri of qutns about their recent sexual history.
“I haven’t ed the word ‘anal’ this much sce the ’80’s, ” Stark joked wele change public policy at a time when gay and trans rights are creasgly unr attack, empowered by an ultranservative Supreme Court. The Food and Dg Admistratn has announced that has relaxed even further the rtrictns placed on gay men who want to donate blood, and seems that the Amerin Red Cross uldn't be ARC, operatn wh s LGBTQ+ Team Member Rource Group, issued a statement celebratg the FDA's cisn. "All prospective donors who report havg a new sexual partner, or more than one sexual partner the past three months, and anal sex the past three months, would be ferred to rce the likelihood of donatns by dividuals wh new or recent HIV fectn who may be the wdow perd for tectn of HIV by nucleic acid ttg, " the FDA the FDA statement impli that some homosexual behavrs rry creased risk for HIV fectn, many supposed health experts have implied that prev bans on blood donatns om MSM were the rult of anti-gay bigotry.