Gay Men Are Barred from Donating Blood If They had Sex within 1 yr.

                                                                       

Why? You might ask.  For not any good reason I can think of since the virus cannot only be detected by antibodies but now they can see the virus and know what it looks like within reason, taking into account its mutations. Which means they can detect the virus safely within a short period of time after being infected. True the time varies within days but you can also have a more than safe time period of 3 wks down to 2 weeks let’s say. Actually the real fair way is not to ask anybody who they have intercourse with rather when was the last time. Asking who you fuck should only be your business and it should have nothing to do when you want to do your civic duty and help your community. Right now the system is on the honesty system. I am sure people working for companies that push employees to donate blood have closeted employees that will be disqualified if honest but they lie and give blood but it is donated and taken. Which means unsafe blood is being donated all the time and so far its gotten caught if infected. There are no cases of people catching HIV through blood transfusions. What does it mean? The system works to detect untainted blood. No need to have artificial false timelines to alleviate the anti gay lobby.

The National Gay Blood Drive said in a statement, “While many gay and bisexual men will be eligible to donate their blood and help save lives under this 12-month deferral, countless more will continue to be banned solely on the basis of their sexual orientation and without medical or scientific reasoning.” 

In a Q&A on its website, the FDA explained its decision to get rid of its lifetime ban and change it to a 12-month ban, stating, "FDA expects that the changes made to the recommendations will maintain or improve blood safety with respect to HIV. The change with respect to [men who have had sex with other men] reflects current scientific evidence, and better aligns the deferral period with the deferral period for other men and women at increased risk for HIV infection."

Many people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community have expressed their concern and outrage over the policy, suggesting that it is still a discriminatory practice. Some have expressed outrage over the fact that queer men are unable to donate to their own partners, including Colorado Congressman Jared Polis.

The FDA's ban dates back to 1985, when the AIDS epidemic was first noticed in the U.S. and all queer men were banned from donating blood. However, though the policy's limit has been shortened to a time period that the FDA thinks is long enough to detect an infection, according to The Huffington Post, Whitman-Walker Health, an Washington D.C. LGBTQ community health center, has suggested that the waiting period doesn't have to be 12 months. This is especially due to the fact that HIV can be detected in a short period of time — "as little as nine days," according to The New York Times.

OneBlood, a blood center that services the state of Florida, posted a statement on Sunday noting "There is an urgent need for O Negative, O Positive and AB Plasma blood donors following a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida." You can help by donating at local blood donation centers.