Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

US May Allow Gay Men to Donate Blood Again

1985 ban out of date, advocates argue

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 11, 2010 4:20 PM CDT

(Newser) – A quarter-century after the US started barring gay men from donating blood, Department of Health and Human Services experts are deciding whether to lift the lifetime ban, HealthDay News reports. The policy was instituted in 1985, as public consciousness of HIV/AIDS grew. "There was good reason for it, based on the testing technologies we had at the time," says an AIDS activist.

Testing technology now allows for reliable HIV detection within 2 weeks of infection, and many consider the ban overkill. The Red Cross, the Association of Blood Banks, and America's Blood Centers recommend that gay men be allowed to donate as long as 12 months have passed since their last sexual encounter. The move would increase the perennially overtaxed donor blood supply by 90,000 pints annually, experts estimate.

People donate blood at a mobile blood transfusion laboratory in Moscow on Wednesday, March 31, 2010.
People donate blood at a mobile blood transfusion laboratory in Moscow on Wednesday, March 31, 2010.   (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
My TakeCLICK BELOW TO VOTE
5%
2%
5%
58%
26%
5%
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 37 comments
Eleutherius
Jun 13, 2010 6:57 AM CDT
This isn't a discrimination issue. If there is good medical reason for the ban it should be upheld - if not, it shouldn't. And good medical reason doesn't just mean "all and only gay men have hiv" but might even be just a significantly higher rate/risk of hiv. But gays' feelings and liberal sensibilities shouldn't count for anything on this issue.
rickson
Jun 12, 2010 12:25 PM CDT
So a straight man who has tons of unprotected sex can give his blood right away just because he is straight but a gay man who is in a committed relationship for 9 months can not give blood??? If one group of people has to wait 12 months than EVERY group of people waits 12 months! HIV/AIDS knows no bounds-no color-no gender-no sexual preference . So.........If a gay man who does NOT HAVE HIV/AIDS and a straight man who DOES HAVE HIV/AIDS walk into a blood clinic right now at this very second the doctors will say yes to the straight man but say no to the gay man...... So if I went on a sex binge and had tons of unprotected sex right now, all different women, and than walked into a clinic to give my blood they would say yes just because I'm straight??? but a gay man who has been with the same person for 9 months would be turned away??? WTF!!! Get your priorities in check America! LMFAO!!!
Disillusioned
Jun 12, 2010 11:05 AM CDT
More than once the screening system that "protects" the Nations blood supply has been shown to be lacking.

One thing to remember is if you think Gays are the only ones who carry AIDS you are still living back in the days of Nixon when the people in power allowed AIDs to run freely because pure and simple they thought it was only a Gay disease point in fact they had a name for it and that name was "The Gay Plague"

A short time later people at the CDC after much pressure applied to the Administration proved that AIDS jumped to the "Straight" population through straight females who also slept with Patient Zero


One last thing to help the Bigots who read this sleep better, People who happen to be Gay do not have a sign hanging over their head; also is the fact many "straight" males happen to have feminine mannerisms.

Knowing those two simple facts it is near imposable to guarantee that a Gay man is going to answer the question "Are you Gay" or even the question "How long has it been since your last Gay sexual encounter"

Yoou guys need to face facts, not every Gay wears eye shadow and many Gays have a Macho attitude that would frighten a bear.

How the hell do you really think a worker sitting at a Blood Bank all theses years have been protecting the Blood Supply even with such a stupid and flawed law .

 
gay rights • AIDS • Health and Human Services • HIV • blood • homosexuality • Red Cross • HIV/AIDS • blood donor • blood supply • Association of Blood Banks • America's Blood Centers

 
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Timelines   |   POPSUGAR Tech   |   Business Insider   |   HuffPost Entertainment   |   NewsOne