In a massive win for LGBTQ+ rights, the Food and Drug Administration has revealed plans to ease blood donation restrictions for queer men.
Since the 1980s, gay and bisexual men in the United States have been banned from donating blood due to stigma from the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
However over the last few years, the FDA has slowly started to ease their donation rules to include LGBTQ+ individuals.
Back in 2015, the federal agency officially lifted its archaic ban and introduced a new policy that allowed gay and bisexual men who have been abstinent for a year to donate (per NPR).
The FDA also temporarily adjusted the time frame to three months during the height of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic due to alarming blood shortages.
Now it looks like the FDA will be introducing another change to its established rules for gay and bisexual men and blood donations.
According to The Wall Street Journal, queer individuals who are in a monogamous relationship will no longer have to be abstinent for a year to give blood.
In addition to the proposed adjustment, the FDA is also exploring the idea of gay and bisexual men filling out a questionnaire related to their sexual history and activity. If a person has had no new partners in three months, they’ll be allowed to donate blood.
“The FDA remains committed to evaluating alternatives to the time-based deferral policy by helping to facilitate the generation of the scientific evidence that might support an individual risk assessment-based blood donor questionnaire,” the agency said in a statement (per CNN).
Read our full statement here: https://t.co/cmHih0mXaN
— GLAAD (@glaad) November 30, 2022
The FDA also noted that they would be using data from their recent Assessing Donor Variability And New Concepts in Eligibility (ADVANCE) pilot study to help with the questions for the questionnaire and rules.
Shortly after the news made headlines, GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis opened up about the somewhat inclusive guidelines in a statement.
“I think it is a nominal step in the right direction. It’s not where it should be, though. Our community and leading medical experts have been saying now for years that these decisions that the FDA is making on blood bans for the LGBTQ+ community are based in stigma and not science. And we’re see that pattern continue,” she said.
American Red Cross Vice President Susan Stramer also welcomed the FDA’s plans to change its rules.
“While we have not been notified by the FDA concerning policy changes at this time, the Red Cross looks forward to a future in which donation eligibility is not based on sexual orientation, and more healthy individuals can give blood to help patients in need,” she said.
Latest
