BREAKING NEWS: FDA Ends Discriminatory Ban on Blood Donations from Gay and Bi Men

For the last 40 years, the FDA has implemented a discriminatory ban on gay and bisexual men from donating blood. It started with panic during the AIDS crisis and continued for decades ignoring the fact that all of the blood is tested anyway. But now, four decades later, the FDA announced they will be ending their anti-LGBTQ+ policies.

 

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Originally, there was a lifetime ban on donations from any cis men who have/have had sex with cis men. The FDA made a partial improvement to their idiotic ban in 2020 by shortening the abstinence period to three months, but only because donations dropped significantly during the COVID Pandemic. Under the 2020 guidelines, any man who has/has had sex with men could only donate blood if they hadn’t had sex with another man for at least three months.

Under the new guidelines, everyone will answer the same individual risk assessment questions regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation, and anyone who has had anal sex with a new sexual partner in the last three months will be rejected. The reason for this is that people fall within the time frame that might include "new or recent HIV infection."

It's worth noting that you can still be rejected if you fall within that time frame even if you're taking PrEP. This is a blatant disregard for the science of PrEP, since regular taking of PrEP has been proven to be more effective than condoms at preventing HIV. The FDA's reasoning for this is that "their use may delay detection of HIV by currently licensed screening tests for blood donations, which may potentially give false negative results."

 

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The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) praised the move, saying it "signals the beginning of the end of a dark and discriminatory past rooted in fear and homophobia." But they did call out the anti-Science stance of preventing those who are PrEP from donating blood if they fall within that window, particularly given that the various forms of PrEP are specifically approved by the FDA. "While today’s guidance is an important step in the right direction, the deferral period for individuals on PrEP, an FDA-approved drug proven to prevent HIV acquisition, continues to erect barriers to LGBTQ blood donors. Placing potential blood donors taking PrEP in a separate line from every other donor adds unnecessary stigma," the group said. Adding, "The bias embedded into this policy may, in fact, cost lives."

Though it's an imperfect update, it is most decidedly a massive step in the right direction and one that is 40 years overdue. Onwards we progress!

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