U.S. Panel Partially Lifts Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood

On Thursday, November 13, a panel from the Department of Health and Human Service voted to partially lift the longstanding ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood.

"The advisory panel recommended for the first time that the 31-year ban preventing gay and bisexual men from donating blood should be partially ended, placing the nation's policy in line with other countries," wrote 19-year-old advocate Caleb Laieski, who spoke before the panel about the lawsuit he had filed against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding this blood ban. "The suggested action was to place a one-year deferral on gay men from donating blood, opposed to their lifetime ban."

The current U.S. ban prohibited blood donations from any man who had sex with another man (MSM), since 1977, the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. But critics, among them top health care officials, said that the ban was outdated, discriminatory and unnecessary, as screening for HIV in blood rendered risks nearly infinitesimal.

As Laieski noted in his speech before the panel, "A recent study by the American Red Cross estimates that lifting the blood ban donation ban could be used to help save the lives of more than 1.8 million people."

In addition, the U.S. policy is way behind the blood donation policy in many other countries, from the UK and Canada to Australia, which allows MSM to donate blood after either a year or five years of abstinence from same-sex encounters.

AIDS Service Organizations like GMHC support a policy that looks at high-risk behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, and even legislators believe that the current ban is discriminatory.

"Our current policies turn away healthy, willing donors, even when we face serious perpetuate inaccurate stereotypes against gay and bisexual men, and fosters an atmosphere that promotes discrimination," read an August 2013 letter of support from legislators, including U.S. Representative Mike Quigley, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Elizabeth Warren, and U.S. Representative Barbara Lee. The letter was signed by a bicameral, bipartisan group of 82 U.S. Congress members, and sent to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Time reported that HHS's Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability voted 16-2 in support of allowing men who have had sex with other men to give blood after being abstinent for one year.

"Today progress was made certainly made and more lives will be saved, however we still have lots of work to get done," said Laieski.

Jennifer Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the agency, noted that "the meeting provided valuable information and perspectives that will help inform the FDA's deliberations."

Laieski said that a group of advisers to the FDA will meet on December 2 to make the final decision on whether gay and bisexual men will be able to donate.

"Meanwhile, I will be continuing with my lawsuit until this policy is overturned by the courts or the administration," he said.