FDA Lifts Ban On Gay & Bisexual Blood Donations

This year is wrapping up with one more step in the right direction for the LGBT community here in the states.

On Tuesday, the FDA announced its plans to lift the lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. The ban was put in place in 1983 during the AIDS epidemic. Back then, very little was known about HIV or what causes the disease, nor were there any quick tests for the disease. Thanks to advances in science and medicine, much more is known, and understood, about HIV now.

While the FDA has lifted the original ban, it is keeping a ban on donations by men who've slept with other men in the last year. This decision brings the US up to par with many European countries, including Great Britain, who adjusted their lifetime ban to a 12-month ban back in 2011. So while the ban isn't completely gone, it is a step in the right direction.

This decision has had mixed feedback. Some believe this is a step in the right direction. “This is a major victory for gay civil rights,” said I. Glenn Cohen, a law professor at Harvard who specializes in bioethics and health. “We’re leaving behind the old view that every gay man is a potential infection source.” However, he did admit that the policy was “still not rational enough.” While others were not so impressed. GMHC, an advocacy group formerly known as Gay Men’s Health Crisis, called the new policy “offensive and harmful.” and AIDS United, a Washington-based lobbying group, said the policy was a “step forward,” but that it “continues to perpetuate discrimination against gay and bisexual men.”

Overall, I agree that this is a step in the right direction, but it does feel like the FDA is saying only gay and bisexual men can carry HIV. However, all things take time and I'm going to count this as a win for the LGBT community. Let's hope it leads to even bigger, more significant wins in the future.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/24/health/fda-lifting-ban-on-gay-blood-donors.html?_r=0