Germany to ease l on gay and bisexual men donatg blood | Rters

Contents:

• LETTG GAY MEN DONATE BLOOD COULD HELP SOLVE A MAJOR HEALTH CRISIS
• GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE
• JAKE BORELLI ON WHY GREY'S ANATOMY'S GAY BLOOD BAN STORY IS PERSONAL
• GERMANY TO EASE L ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN DONATG BLOOD
• COLUMN: TWO GAY MEN WALK TO A RED CROSS BLOOD DONATN CENTER ...
• BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT

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.

GAY MEN STILL FACE HURDL TO DONATE BLOOD AMID NATNAL SHORTAGE

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

JAKE BORELLI ON WHY GREY'S ANATOMY'S GAY BLOOD BAN STORY IS PERSONAL

“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.

GERMANY TO EASE L ON GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN DONATG BLOOD

Let them know you don’t support discrimatory practic that ban gay and bisexual men om dog their civic duty. 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.

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. The beloved character, who me out as gay at the same time Jake Borelli, who portrays him, me out publicly, worked amid the trma of early COVID-19 last season, and suffered full-on burnout after losg his first patient unr the hospal's new trag method this season. But for Borelli, a gay blood ban story that volv Levi Grey's Anatomy's 18th season fale (also the show's whoppg 400th episo), is eply personal.

COLUMN: TWO GAY MEN WALK TO A RED CROSS BLOOD DONATN CENTER ...

"In preparg for the episo and talkg to people about this, I found that pecially om the straight muny, that there's this ia that oh, well, the blood ban is now no longer a lifetime blood ban for gay men, " he adds. "You're fe as long as you don't have sex, as long as you don't partake sodomy, or if you don't get married, " Borelli says of ndnal acceptance of gay and bi men.

BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT

"Borelli, 31, joed ABC's long-nng medil drama 2018, g out publicly as his character's gay storyle unfold not long after. I uldn't bee I knew that I was gay, " Borelli says.