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

Contents:

• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WILL NOW BE ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UNR FALIZED FDA L
• BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• NEW US BLOOD DONATN L ALLOW MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO GIVE
• FDA'S REVISED BLOOD DONATN GUIDANCE FOR GAY MEN STILL COURTS CONTROVERSY
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• BANNED FOR LIFE: WHY GAY MEN STILL N'T DONATE BLOOD
• FDA PAV WAY FOR MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE BLOOD WH NEW RISK-BASED ASSSMENT
• FDA PROPOS EASG BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• WHAT ARE THE BLOOD DONATN L GLOBALLY FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN?
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN ARE NOW ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD IN ENGLAND, STLAND AND WAL
• THE FDA NSIRS EASG RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN
• GAY MEN NOW ABLE TO DONATE BLOOD UTAH AFTER S-LONG BAN
• SHOULD GAYS BE ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD?

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

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. 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.

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

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. 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.

BLOOD DONATN BY GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Let them know you don’t support discrimatory practic that ban gay and bisexual men om dog their civic duty. 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. At first, gay and bisexual men were pletely prohibed om donatg blood.

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

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. 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.

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

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.

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.

The FDA has announced a relaxg of s rtrictns on gay men beg allowed to donate blood, light of the ronavis disease 2019 panmic. 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.

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

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

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.

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

A person is tted durg the first gay men's blood drive, held at the Memorial Blood Center St.

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.

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. Food and Dg Admistratn announced on May 11, 2023, that has officially dropped rtrictns that prohib gay and bisexual men om donatg blood unr many circumstanc on May 11, 2023. The ban was ially put place the early days of the AIDS epimic, but for years medil profsnals and gay rights advot have argued that the ban was no longer medilly jtifiable and that unnecsarily discrimated agast men who have sex wh men.

FDA PAV WAY FOR MORE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN TO DONATE BLOOD WH NEW RISK-BASED ASSSMENT

Rearchers and gay rights advot have long argued that time-based ferrals lack nuance and fail to realistilly nsir the differenc risk associated wh the type of sex, type of relatnship, number of partners and equency of sexual enunters. For the first time four s, gay and bisexual men will be allowed to donate blood Utah.

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. “The are excg chang to the guil that have historilly impacted gay and bisexual men for four s.”. Gay rights groups have long opposed blanket rtrictns on who n give blood, sayg they discrimate agast the LGBTQ muny.

“Current and former blood donatn polici ma unfound assumptns about gay and bisexual men and really entangled dividuals’ inty wh their likelihood of havg HIV, ” said Sarah Warbelow of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocy group. And many other untri started blockg blood donatns om gay and bisexual men durg the early 1980’s AIDS epimic, aimg to prevent the spread of HIV through the blood supply.

FDA PROPOS EASG BLOOD DONATN L FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

The policy would also apply to women who have sex wh gay or bisexual men. The FDA based s latt proposal on a recent study o f 1, 600 gay and bisexual men. Pietrzak donated blood high school but beme eligible after beg sexually active as a gay man.

"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. 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.

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

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.

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

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. 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.

THE FDA NSIRS EASG RTRICTNS ON BLOOD DONATNS BY GAY AND BISEXUAL 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. "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.

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

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.

SHOULD GAYS BE ALLOWED TO DONATE BLOOD?

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? 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. Before 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.

Sarah Kate Ellis, Print and CEO of GLAAD, the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn, said the new remendatns signal “the begng of the end of a dark and discrimatory past rooted fear and homophobia, ” but argued that by excludg people takg PrEP, they didn’t go far enough.