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

Contents:

• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• NEW US BLOOD DONATN L ALLOW MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO GIVE
• NEW ATRALIAN BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY MEN DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH, ADVOT SAY
• HERE'S HOW YOU N DONATE BLOOD, IF YOU'RE A GAY MAN
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• BANNED FOR LIFE: WHY GAY MEN STILL N'T DONATE BLOOD

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.

”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. 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.

NEW US BLOOD DONATN L ALLOW MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO GIVE

It also puts gay and bisexual men at higher risk for acquirg HIV over time. “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. Gay and bisexual men monogamo relatnships n give blood the US whout abstag om sex unr updated feral health guil that foc on donors’ behavr, not their sexual Food and Dg Admistratn (FDA) guil falized on Thursday ease s-old rtrictns signed to protect the blood supply om agency announced plans for the change January and said this week the new approach n now be implemented by blood updated guil do away wh a requirement that men who have sex wh men absta om sex for three months prr to givg blood.

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.

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

”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. In 1983, at the height of the Amerin AIDS epimic, the FDA took a step thought would prevent the vis om spreadg via transfn: banned men who have sex wh men om givg Pulls a CharlottvilleThe exact nature of the FDA's blood ban for gay men has shifted over the past 33 years.

HERE'S HOW YOU N DONATE BLOOD, IF YOU'RE A GAY MAN

And last year, rponse to urgg om activists and health profsnals, the FDA rolled back the prohibn perd to one year, but required gay male donors to be sexually abstent for a year prr to makg a blood, if you're a sexually active gay man, you are prohibed om givg blood Ameri. Fstratn over the l grew this week, followg Sunday's mass shootg at a gay nightclub Orlando. Many gay men were turned away after a mor began circulatg that the Blood One, a Florida blood bank, had temporarily lifted rtrictns on donatns om sexually-active gay men.

""A married gay man a monogamo relatnship is clearly much more low-risk, " Stacy Bner, senr director of policy at Whman-Walker, a Washgton DC muny health center specializg HIV/AIDS and LGBT re, told me that he didn't see a way for sexually active gay men to get around the FDA le "for this crisis. "If you're a gay man and you have been celibate for a year, of urse, you n donate blood normally—jt look up your neart blood bank and if you don't f the FDA's creria, there are some alternative optns available:Give outsi the U.

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

A study published the Italian medil journal Blood Transfn  2013, rearchers found that after Italy reversed s outright ban on homosexual men donatg blood and swched to a system which dividual donors were subjected to a rigoro qutnnaire regardg their sexual behavrs and histori, there was no crease HIV fectns.

Argenta, Spa, Mexi, Chile, and Rsia are some of the other untri wh siar programs that allow healthy gay men to donate blood.

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

), would still help to your legislatorsIf you thk the FDA's guil are unjt and discrimatory, you n wre your legislator and mand that they be revised aga to elimate or drastilly shorten the wag perd for gay men who want to donate members of Congrs, like Colorado Democrat Jared Polis, have already started makg noise about the issue on their is currently a Whe Hoe petn to overturn the ban as well, but has a long way to go to reach the number of signatur above which Print Obama would addrs awarensEven when we aren't a natnal tragedy, blood donors are always need. The Natnal Gay Blood Drive is held every year to add blood to the untry's banks and brg further attentn to the FDA's ban. Gay men who wish to participate are enuraged to round up alli they know to donate their place.

Learn more about how you n participate don't advise this optn, but some gay men have taken upon themselv to lie about their sexual history as a way to give blood. "When you have a policy that’s perceived as unreasonable, like this policy is, ters people om plyg, " Stacy outA more ethil optn for gay men might jt be to wa this one out. "Give somethg other than bloodBner says that all gay men who legally n donate blood should.

“Here the PI was a gay man, I was a gay man, and there were the two men – and all of uldn’t donate, ” Rawlgs said.