Red cross homosexual donation
How new FDA rule allowing male lover, bisexual men to give blood is making donation more inclusive
For at least a decade, Chris Van Bibber had been prevented from donating blood.
The year-old from Salt Lake City, Utah -- who is openly homosexual -- was restricted due to rules set in place by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that did not allow sexually active gay men from donating.
However, this past May, the FDA dropped all restrictions specific to gay and double attraction men donating blood, moving to a new blood donation chance assessment tool that is the same for every donor regardless of how they identify, which rolled out in August.
This meant that Van Bibber was proficient to make history as he donated blood at the American Red Cross Blood Donation Center in his home city.
"To perch back in that chair and to go through the questionnaire beforehand, and it was just -- I felt so much excitement and so much relief that we were finally here," Van Bibber told ABC News. "I just felt like I was finally able to execute my part and it's a small thing to do that can make such a large
Blood donation policy is updated, allowing gay and multi-attracted men to give
Dr. Robbie Goldstein donated blood two weeks ago for the first time in his life.
On Thursday, Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld did the same.
Both have devoted their lives to medicine and widespread service. But until recently Goldstein, the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Ehrenfeld, the president of the American Medical Association, were barred from perhaps the simplest way they could help.
They couldn’t donate their own blood.
Both men are gay, and gay men in America have been banned from blood donations since the mids.
Back then, it made some scientific sense to keep homosexual men from donating. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, had entered the blood supply and was passing to people who received transfusions. There was no way back then to rapidly screen donated blood to ensure the virus wasn’t present. The fear of HIV, then a certain death sentence, also affected public policy.
By , the science had been transformed. Testing could rapidly identify HIV in blood with more than 99% certainty. T
Did FDA rule transform allowing gay, bisexual person men to donate blood make a difference? Some preliminary data suggests it did
For years, Jose Dominguez, 50, had wanted to donate blood, feeling it was part of his civic duty.
But he was restricted by rules position in place by the U.S. Diet and Drug Administration that did not allow sexually active gay men from donating.
That finally changed in May , when the FDA dropped all restrictions specific to queer and bisexual men donating blood, moving to a brand-new blood donation exposure assessment tool that is the matching for every donor regardless of how they identify, which rolled out in August
In Parade of this year, Dominguez finally donated blood for the first time, and he did so with his husband, Craig Burdett. For Burdett, 62, it was the first time he had donated blood since , when he began openly spotting as gay.
"I was grinning just from ear to ear, just because of the fact that we were capable to do this," Dominguez, who is the head of the American Red Cross Long Island chapter, told ABC News. "I've never done it before, and I was
Blood Donations
In January , the Biden administration and the U.S. Nourishment and Drug Administration (FDA) took a significant step toward dismantling antiquated and discriminatory policy preventing lgbtq+ and bisexual men from donating blood.
The new policy moves away from discriminatory policy based on self and toward a science-based, individualized risk assessment approach.
Click here to learn more about the progress made in Blood Donation policies and follow HRC’s endeavors to drive change.
Top Ten Questions on Updated FDA Blood Donation Guidance
The updated guidance abandons the discriminatory deferral policy based on one’s identity within a group (i.e., gay, and bisexual men, and matching gender loving men).
The updated guidance now requires all persons to be evaluated based on an individual donor assessment. All prospective donors will be asked the same questions, and if deemed eligible, can donate blood.
Prospective donors will not be asked if they are monogamous, or in a monogamous relationship.
Under the new guidance, all prospective donors w