The Food and Drug Administration is planning to lift its blood donation restrictions for gay and bisexual men after years of prohibiting them from giving blood.
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According to an anonymous official, gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships can donate blood even if they haven’t abstained from sex for months. The decision comes decades after a policy discriminating against gay men was implemented during the AIDS crisis. In a report by Insider, blood banks and LBGTQ organizations fought for an equal policy within the past few years.
The official also stated that the new restrictions were implemented to keep the blood supply HIV-free by focusing on sexual behavior rather than an individual’s gender or sexual orientation. Because the final changes have not been made public, men eligible to donate blood must wait until the end of 2023.
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Despite this news, some LGBTQ advocacy groups want to see if the decision will come to light. Cole Williams,22, founder of Pride and Plasma, told the out that he wants the changes to be more focused on the individual’s risks and the type of sex donors are experimenting with.
“HIV is not a disease that only targets the queer community and queer men. Anyone can have it. So saying a heterosexual individual is completely free from the risk while all queer people are subject to high risk, that’s just not accurate science.”
Twitter reacts to the latest update, and some users ask if blood donations test the blood beforehand.
After the FDA’s unofficial announcement made headlines, Twitter users questioned if organizations tested the blood regardless of the donor’s sexuality. One user wrote, “When the restrictions were originally introduced, HIV and other infectious diseases could be undetected for up to a year in some very rare cases. Testing has gotten better, so the rules are antiquated.” Another question is why heterosexual couples weren’t barred from donating blood as HIV diagnoses increased by 22 percent in 2020 from heterosexual contact.
22% of new HIV diagnoses in 2020 were from heterosexual contact. But no one stopped non-monogamous straight folks from donating blood. https://t.co/7GwZiZwuNQ
— The Randy Report
(@randyslovacek) January 26, 2023
being turned away at my high school blood drive was one of the first very public and very traumatizing acts of discrimination i faced change all the rules you want you’ll never find me or my gay O- blood in a donation clinic
— BLM (@eli_wally) January 28, 2023
Wait, don't they ask you if you had a new sexual partner in the last 6 months? I live in Belgium and that's a standard question you have to answer before you get to donate. They still exclude gay people here though. So their logic is backwards and completely unfair
— Elisabeth (@Elisabeth__E) January 27, 2023
One time the Red Cross came to my tech school and I tried to donate blood but they told me I couldn’t because I identified as gay. I was 18 at the time. Since then I never wanted to try donating blood again
— austin (@uastin) January 27, 2023
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