US May Allow Monogamous Gay And Bisexual Men To Donate Blood Without Abstaining From Sex

The US FDA is reportedly considering easing restrictions to allow gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships to donate blood without abstaining from sex. 

“The FDA remains committed to gathering the scientific data related to alternative donor deferral policies that maintain a high level of blood safety,” the agency said in a statement. The FDA said that it was reviewing the results of the Assessing Donor Variability And New Concepts in Eligibility (ADVANCE) pilot study to determine “if a donor questionnaire based on individual risk assessment would be as effective as time-based deferrals in reducing the risk of HIV”.

The FDA’s statement followed a report in the Wall Street Journal that said that the agency was planning to allow gay and bisexual men who are in monogamous relationships to donate blood without abstaining from sex.

In 2015, the FDA lifted its blanket ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood and plasma and allowed them to do it if they abstained from sex for 12 months. In 2020, faced with the severe shortage of blood during the Covid-19 pandemic, FDA revised this period down to three months. 

Long Over Decision

Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, said that while the decision is long overdue, “our community and leading medical experts will not stop advocating for the FDA to lift all restrictions against qualified LGBTQ blood donor candidates.”

GLAAD pointed to a 2014 study by the Williams Institute, which said that an additional 360,000 men would likely donate blood saving the lives of over a million people if the ban was lifted. 

“As LGBTQ leaders and medical experts have been saying for years: bans and restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men are rooted in stigma, not science,” Ellis said in a statement. 

“Giving one set of rules to some people, and another set of rules to others, based purely on identity, is blatant discrimination. This fight is not over until all LGBTQ Americans who want to donate blood are met with the same protocols as other Americans. All potential blood donors, whose donations could save lives, should be treated equally. There is no excuse for choosing stigma over science in 2022,” added Ellis. 

Australia Urged To Lift Ban

In recent years, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Israel, Greece, Brazil, Hungary, Argentina and Denmark have all withdrawn the blanket ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood.

LGBTQI advocates have urged Australia to follow the lead of other countries. In Australia, gay and bisexual men have to abstain from having sex for three months before they are allowed to donate blood. Let Us Give, a campaign urging Australia to change its rule around blood donation so that blood donors are screened for their individual risk, irrespective of the gender of their partner, has received over 4,000 signatures.