American Red Cross announces big change in its blood donation policy for gay men

The American Red Cross announced yesterday a major change to its blood donation policy regarding gay and bisexual men. It has implemented recent FDA guidance to remove discriminatory barriers to gay men donating blood.

The organization said that from yesterday, it no longer asks people about their sexual orientation. It will still ask people about their sex lives, but people are asked the same questions regardless of sexuality.

“On August 7, the American Red Cross implemented the updated FDA blood donation guidelines which eliminate questions based on sexual orientation. We look forward to welcoming those who may be newly eligible to give through a more inclusive blood donation process.”

The US will always require blood donations. The Red Cross collects around 40% of all the donations needed. It has warned in the past of blood product shortages.

A ban on gay men donating blood in the US came into force with the arrival of AIDS in the early 1980s. This stayed in place for decades. In recent years, with effective screening for HIV in place, the ban was partially lifted. In 2015, the FDA allowed gay men to donate blood if they hadn’t had sex in the previous 12 months.

Then, in May of this year, the FDA changed its guidance again. It said blood donations should be guided by behavior, and not by orientation.

It says anyone who has had a new sexual partner, more than one sexual partner in the past three months, and anal sex in the past three months, would be deferred. This might still exclude many gay men, but will also exclude some heterosexual people.

People on PrEP will also be deferred until three months after their last pill, or two years since their last injection.

Not good enough for some campaigners

Some people feel the change does not go far enough.

Jason Cianciotto is vice president of communications and policy at HIV organization GMHC. He told CNN more could be done to boost blood donation supplies.

“There are a significant proportion of LGBT people, particularly gay and bisexual men who have sex with men, who still will be excluded from donating blood, and they shouldn’t be,” he said. “This change still perpetuates the stigma and harm that the FDA policy has fomented for so many years.”

Rodney Wilson, a senior biomedical communications specialist with the Red Cross, told CNN the new policy is a big step in the right direction.

“The Red Cross believes this is one of the most significant changes in blood banking history. It makes blood donation more inclusive, and it also keeps the blood supply safe,” he said.

“We know that, for many decades, the FDA’s policies have obviously caused a lot of hurt to the LGBTQ community. And we recognize that, and we regret that that has been the case. But what we want people to know is that everyone is welcome in our mission, whether you can give blood or not.”

The updated guidance will roll out across Red Cross donation centers in the US. Some smaller centers hope to implement the change quickly.