14. The Ban on Gay Blood Donations

Snarky Opener (0:00)

So, let me get this straight. Gay men who are in a committed monogamous relationship have to be celibate for three months before they can donate blood, but a hetero can donate blood the day after a night of drunken, unprotected sex with a stranger while taking the Lord's name in vain? Jesus Christ.

Episode Introduction (0:35)

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay. I'm Rob Loveless and today, I'm a jaded gay because Roe versus Wade has been overturned.

And I know by the time this airs, this will be older news. Happened a few weeks ago. I typically record my episodes about a month in advance. So that's why I'm just getting to this now.

At this point, I'm sure you've heard a lot of different opinions and views on this issue, and I feel that there's been a lot of conversation already. I'm not sure how much more I can contribute to the conversation.

All I'm going to say is everyone should have autonomy over their body, and a woman should have a right to choose. If you don't like abortions, if you don't support them, if you don't agree with them, if you think they're wrong, fine, you're entitled to that.

But you should not be letting your viewpoints affect somebody else's body, especially when it comes to health and medical care.

And another reason I wanted to address this is because, with this decision, Clarence Thomas has indicated that he wants to look at a few other court cases, including the right to contraception, the legalization of same-sex marriage, the privatization of sex life.

And these are all things that should just be horrifying to anybody listening, gay, straight, whoever. This is, this is next-level bullshit. And when Roe v Wade was overturned, I saw a couple gay people posting online saying, gays, you should be scared because this means gay marriage is next.

First and foremost, you should be scared because this, this is a big deal regardless. You know, again, people need to have control over their own bodies.

So, this is a big deal, and you should be scared from this. But yes, also for gay people, this opens the door to overturning the legalization of same-sex marriage.

So again, there's been lots of conversation on this already. All I'm gonna say is, you know, it's 2022. Midterms are coming up, so pay the fuck attention. Pay attention to who is running at your local level.

Listen to their platforms. All of them. Pay attention to the debates, and get out there and vote. And I do listen to a ton of podcasts. There's been a few that have actually covered the news of Roe v Wade being overturned.

They gave some commentary, some statistics. Thought it was really insightful. So, a couple episodes from Girls Gotta Eat, Wine & Crime, Gayish. Really enjoyed their, their episodes dedicated to the topic.

I think they provided good information, things that I didn't even know, so I'll include those in the show notes. And I definitely encourage you to listen to those episodes as well.

The Ban on Gay Blood Donations (2:46) 

So anyway, turning from one unsettling topic to another. Today, we're going to be talking about the ban on gay men donating blood.

And like we've talked about in past episodes, sometimes the straight world thinks that the LGBTQ+ community is treated completely equal because of gay marriage being legalized in 2015.

Fingers crossed, this holds on for a little while longer because who knows? Clarence Thomas. Um, anyway, even though same-sex marriage legalization passed in 2015, there are still a ton of inequalities that we face, such as not being able to donate blood.

And some people, especially straight people, might be surprised by that. But to this day, men who have sex with men are not allowed to donate blood unless they've deferred from sexual contact for three months.

And a lot of this is based on homophobia from the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. So, we're going to dive into the history of that a little bit, where things stand currently.

But before we do, let's pull our tarot card.

Tarot (3:37) 

So, the card we pulled for this episode is The Chariot, which is a Major Arcana card. And just a reminder, when it comes to the Major Arcana, this typically indicates a big milestone.

The Minor Arcana cards typically indicate things to do on the day-to-day. This signifies something bigger. So, the number assigned to The Chariot is seven, and that typically represents personal growth, planning, and assessing.

Actually, in some podcasts I learned about tarot, they kind of broke the Major Arcana into chapters of our lives. So, you can think of zero to seven being kind of that time of childhood into adolescence.

So, you know, The Fool is zero. It's new. There's no value to it because it's, it's a clean slate, starting new on a journey.

And then, in the podcast I listened to, they said that The Chariot is the last card in that adolescence phase before you kind of turn into, like, the adulthood, middle age phase. Because you can think of The Chariot as like coming forward. You've kind of learned who you are.

You've established yourself. You're kind of coming out into the world as you are, the individual. Not from what others have made you to be as a child.

So, the key meaning around this is to take inspired action and momentum pushing us forward. And in astrology, this card is tied to Cancer, which signifies nurturing, protection, and intuition.

So, when we pull The Chariot card, it can indicate that we're embarking on an important journey or moving toward the next level of our life goals.

So, we need to have clear intentions, focus, and plan for action. We can't just be determined. We need to actually build a solid foundation and create structure so we can move forward.

And when we're not sure what that action might be, we need to listen to our intuition to guide us. Because at the end of the day, we need to trust ourselves first and foremost.

And this card should really be a sign of encouragement. We've figured out what we want to do and what we want to achieve, and now we're channeling our inner strength, our bravery, our power to move forward and be dedicated in pursuing our goals.

And so, we can't be passive. We can't step back and shy away from the challenge just because we're afraid.

Again, we need the intuition to trust ourselves; to know we have the resources and skills to move forward to achieve what we want to achieve because we will be successful.

And ultimately, we need to assert ourselves and be courageous.

The Current Stance on Gay Men Donating Blood (5:31)

Okay, so with that in mind, let's kick the episode off with where things currently stand regarding the ban on gay men donating blood.

So, if you go to the American Red Cross's website, they have a whole section dedicated to LGBTQ+ donors, discussing donor eligibility. And as things currently stand, this is what their criteria is for men who have sex with men:

"The FDA guidance revised recommendations for reducing the risk of human immunodeficiency virus transmission by blood and blood products states defer for three months from the most recent sexual contact - a man who has sex with another man during the past three months. All US blood collection organizations must follow this federal requirement."

Now they do have a note. They say:

"The Red Cross recognizes the hurt this policy has caused to many in the LGBTQ+ community and believes blood donation eligibility should not be determined by methods that are based upon sexual orientation. We are committed to working with partners toward achieving this goal."

And this is actually, dare I say, generous compared to the previous stances on gay men donating blood. So how did we get here?

The History of Bans on Blood Donation for Gay Men (6:29)

Well, as we touched upon, and I believe it's Episode 03. Surviving Another Pandemic, we saw the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, which predominantly affected gay men at the time.

So as a result, in 1983, the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, banned gay and bisexual men from ever being eligible to donate blood to protect people receiving blood transfusions from the possibility of getting infected with HIV.

So, they didn't say, okay, be celibate for a bit, and then you can donate blood. No, if, as a gay man, you ever had sex with a man, whether it be anal or oral, you were ineligible to ever donate blood.

And this wasn't just in the United States. So, many countries around the world implemented bans as well.

Now, I guess you could understand the initial ban since, in the 1980s, there was a lot that was unknown about HIV and AIDS and its transmission. And yes, HIV transmission can occur through blood.

The Evolution of HIV Testing (7:17)

Now, it's important to note, though, that back in the 1980s, the first generation of HIV tests took a long time to deliver results.

In fact, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's article titled The Evolution of HIV Testing states that patients exposed to the virus had to wait months for markers to reach detectable levels, and a positive screening result often meant a return visit for further testing.

So, when you were tested back then, it took a long time for it to detect if the virus was in your system, and your result wasn't totally accurate, so you often had to go back and get retested.

And there was a lot of, you know, confusion and uncertainty of how accurate the test was. However, newer generations of HIV testing provide more accurate results in a more timely manner.

So, today's tests are between 99 to 100% accurate and can deliver results within a few days. And rapid tests can even deliver results within 20 minutes and are still approximately 99% accurate.

Now, obviously, my degree is in communication, so consult your doctor on this information but nucleic acid HIV tests can typically deliver results for any exposure that may have taken place two weeks before the test.

So, for example, let's say someone may have been exposed to HIV, and we'll call that date of exposure day one. So, on day 15, they get an HIV test and get the results a few days later.

That should detect if they were infected by that exposure on day one. Now, again, I'm not a doctor, so follow your doctor's advice when it comes to your sexual health and HIV testing.

But you can see that we've certainly come a long way from the testing methods of the 1980s. And yet, we still have blood donation bans in place.

2015: The FDA Eases Restrictions on Gay Men Donating Blood (8:49)

In fact, it wasn't until December 2015, so 32 years after the initial blood ban went into place, that the FDA eased its restrictions.

On December 21, 2015, they announced that they were replacing the lifetime prohibition with a new policy that would allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood, but only if they had not had sexual contact with another man for at least one year.

And this was met with mixed responses. On one hand, it was great that gay men were finally able to donate as long as they met certain criteria. But still, it singled out gay men and was somewhat discriminatory.

I mean, would you expect a straight person in a monogamous, long-term relationship, maybe someone who's even married, would you expect them to abstain from sex for a year just to donate blood?

Especially with the updated HIV testing technology? No. But that's what you're asking gay men to do.

Conversely, how many straight people are out there boinking whoever they want, having unprotected sex, and may not even think twice about getting tested, and yet they can still donate blood?

Doesn't make any sense now, does it?

Bans on Blood Donations Perpetuate Stereotypes (9:49)

And at the time, Kelsey Louie, who was the head of the advocacy group Gay Men's Health Crisis, stated that this perpetuated the stereotype that HIV is a gay disease.

And I think Kelsey has a valid point because I have straight friends who have had casual sex here and there, and when I asked if they were safe, they were like, oh yeah, she was on birth control.

Like, that's their biggest fear: unplanned pregnancy. They don't even think about HIV, let alone STDs.

Meanwhile, my gay friends, you could ask them when they were last tested, and they could tell you the exact date and time of their last test, who they had been with beforehand, the last date they were sexually active before getting tested, all that.

Because for so long, we were programmed to believe that gay men were destined to get HIV and die of AIDS. Even if you're using protection and being safe.

In fact, in the reboot of Will & Grace, there was an episode where Grace's father needed a blood donation. And for some reason, Grace and Will's mom weren't able to.

I think their blood wasn't a match of what he needed, but Will's was. But Grace's dad didn't want his blood because he considered it to be, quote-unquote dirty.

And obviously, you know, they try to make Will & Grace a little bit more comedic but will deliver this really powerful quote:

"The law is based on fear, not science. Trust me, nobody spends more of their lives thinking about being safe than gay men. We get tested and retested. On a first date, we swap medical histories the way straight people swap pictures of themselves at the same Ed Sheeran concert. And even when we have nine kinds of proof, we're still told we're tainted."

Are Blood Donations Tested? (11:14)

And I know some people might question this ban because, after all, aren't blood donations tested? And they are.

After the American Red Cross receives a blood donation, it's taken to their processing center, where it's packaged as a unit.

It's then sent to their testing laboratory, and they perform a dozen tests to screen for infectious diseases, including Hepatitis B and C, HIV, syphilis, Zika virus, and West Nile virus, among others.

So, if that's the case, then why are gay men still unable to donate blood unless they differ from sex for a certain period of time?

Well, the HRC actually has a page about the blood donation ban for men who have sex with men. And they explain the FDA's reasoning on this a little bit.

So, I'm going to read from the page:

"Every donated unit of blood undergoes a rigorous series of tests to determine any possible presence of HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, and other blood-borne disease. None of these tests, however, are 100% accurate, and they can produce faulty results.

For instance, despite current restrictions and testing of approximately 12 million units donated each year, 10 HIV-infected units have slipped through. To ensure the safety of blood and other tissues for donation, the FDA uses scientific data to automatically defer certain populations. Because gay and sexual minority men have a higher incidence of disease, they are eliminated from the donor pool immediately."

2020: The FDA Revises Guidelines in Response to COVID (12:32)

Now, in April 2020, because of the blood shortage during the ongoing COVID pandemic, because it's still not over, the FDA revised their guidelines to the current criteria where men who have sex with men must defer from sex for three months before being able to donate.

And while this is still an improvement, it's still discriminatory because these restrictions are targeting by sexual orientation instead of actual behavior.

Like I said, a gay man can be in a monogamous relationship but not be able to donate if they're sexually active with their long-term partner while a straight person can have multiple sexual partners and not have to defer from sex for any given amount of time before donating.

Even if they've never been tested, even if they don't know their HIV status.

Why is the Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood a Big Deal? (13:10)

And some people might think, big deal. So, men who have sex with men can't donate blood. How does it affect you? Well, here's a few reasons.

During COVID, when there was a blood shortage, the FDA still did not want gay men donating blood. Even though some gay men actually had COVID already, had the antibodies for COVID in their bloodstream, had the plasma needed, were HIV-negative, still were not able to donate because they did not defer from sex for three months.

Number two, again, this just reinforces stereotypes and stigma that HIV is a gay disease and can make gay men feel dirty.

And lastly, here's a real-life example. I know somebody who works for a company, and they have an incentive that if you donate blood, you earn a certain amount of PTO.

Which is great, that's a great reward program. You're doing something good, and you're earning some PTO. However, gay people may not be able to qualify for that program.

So, a gay man who is married, long-term committed to his partner, completely monogamous, is unable to donate blood, and therefore unable to accrue the PTO, while somebody who is straight, unmarried, maybe having casual sex every Friday night, is able to participate in this.

And to be clear, I'm not criticizing this company for doing that. I think it's a great program, and they're not choosing to discriminate because this is ultimately the FDA guidelines.

However, there's still a lack of opportunity there for certain people, so certain people can't take advantage of the program.

And I think this would be a great example of, you know, what corporations can do once Pride is over.

While they can't control the ban on blood donations for gay people, they should certainly be, you know, advocating to the FDA and other organizations to take another look at their criteria for who can donate blood since some of their employees, who are HIV negative, still are unable to donate blood just because they are a man who has sex with another man. So yeah, there you have it.

Global Blood Donation Restrictions for Gay Men (14:50)

And, like I said, the US isn't the only country that has these restrictions. But more recently, countries have been reexamining their own criteria.

In fact, just this year, Greece and France, they lifted their own restrictions and are now allowing men who have sex with men to donate blood.

So, I pulled up a list online here. I'm going to go through the different countries and their deferral period:

• So, Albania, no deferral for men who have sex with men Algeria, indefinite.
  • So that means that if you're a man who has sex with men, you're unable to donate ever.
• Argentina, no deferral.
• Australia, three months deferral.
• Austria, four months deferral.
• Belgium, one-year deferral.
• Bhutan, no deferral.
• Bolivia, no deferral.
• Brazil, no deferral.
• Bulgaria, no deferral.
• Canada, as it currently stands, there is a three-month deferral.
  • However, earlier this year, they did rule that they're going to lift this, and it's expected that starting September 30, there will no longer be a deferral for men who have sex with men from donating blood.
• Chile, no deferral.
• China, indefinite.
  • So again, if you're a man who has sex with a man, you're never able to donate blood.
• Colombia, no deferral.
• Costa Rica, no deferral.
• Croatia, indefinite.
• Czech Republic, one-year deferral.
• Denmark, four months deferral.
• Egypt, indefinite.
• Estonia, four months.
• Finland, four months.
• France, no deferral.
• Germany, no deferral.
• Greece, no deferral.
• Greenland, four months.
• Hong Kong, six months.
• Hungary, no deferral.
• Iceland, indefinite.
• India, indefinite.
• Iran, indefinite.
• Ireland, four months.
• Israel, no deferral.
• Italy, no deferral.
• Japan, six months.
• Latvia, no deferral.
• Lebanon, indefinite.
• Libya, indefinite.
• Lithuania, no deferral.
• Malaysia, indefinite.
• Malta one year.
• Mexico, no deferral.
• Netherlands, no deferral.
• New Zealand, three months.
• Norway, one year.
• Peru, no deferral.
• Philippines, indefinite.
• Poland, no deferral.
• Portugal, no deferral.
• Romania, no deferral.
• Russia, no deferral.
• San Marino, no deferral.
• Saudi Arabia, indefinite.
• Serbia, six months.
• Singapore, indefinite.
• South Africa, no deferral.
• South Korea, one year.
• Slovakia, one year.
• Slovenia, indefinite.
• Spain, no deferral.
• Sri Lanka, indefinite.
• Sudan, indefinite.
• Sweden, six months.
• Switzerland, one year.
• Taiwan, five years.
• Thailand, indefinite.
• Trinidad and Tobago, indefinite.
• Turkey, indefinite.
• Ukraine, no deferral.
• UAE, indefinite.
• United Kingdom, no deferral.
• United States, three months.
  • Obviously, we talked about that.
• Uruguay, no deferral.
• And Venezuela, indefinite.

So, with these other countries making progress, hopefully, the US will, too.

Episode Closing (17:38)

And the HRC, they've strongly encouraged the FDA to revise the donor questionnaire based on an individual risk assessment of sexual behaviors upon which all donors are evaluated equally, without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.

And I agree with this. And also, I think it's important to point out that, obviously today, PrEP is more mainstream. A lot of gay men are on PrEP, and if you're taking PrEP daily, again, check with your doctor.

I am not a medical expert or medical provider, but it's advertised that if you take PrEP daily, that it is 99% effective at preventing you from being infected with HIV, even if you are exposed to HIV.

Again, a gay man can be on PrEP and be completely protected from ever being infected with HIV and not meeting that deferral period and are still unable to donate blood.

So, we've come a long way with the HIV testing. We've come a long way with PrEP and being protected and understanding how HIV is transmitted, and yet still, we are stuck with this three-month deferral period.

Which, like Will said, is based around fear as opposed to science. And it's not looking at all populations equally because, again, risk is not being assessed by behaviors.

It's being assessed by if you fall into the gay population. If you're gay, it's assumed that you'll have HIV. So, you need to defer from sex for three months to make sure you're truly negative.

So, even though the FDA has come a long way, you know, from the initial days of when, if you were a man who had sex with a man, you were ineligible from ever donating blood to, you know, easing it to be deferring from sex for a year, to easing it to deferring from sex for three months.

We've come a long way, but there's still a lot of work to do. And I'm glad to see that the HRC is actively working with the FDA to have them reassess and revise their donor questionnaire to determine the risk assessment of sexual behaviors upon all donors equally, without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.

And again, I think going back to The Chariot card, this is an action-focused card. We know our objectives. We need to build that solid foundation so we can move forward and be successful.

So, if you think of it, our foundation, you know, we're almost 40 years from when the blood band first went into effect in 1983. We've come a long way with HIV testing. We've come a long way with understanding how HIV is transmitted.

We've come a long way with being protected from HIV, whether it's having safer sex or taking PrEP. And as gay men, we tend to be very aware of our sexual health and our status.

We get tested frequently when we go to the doctors because, for so long, it's been ingrained in us that we are dirty because we're gay.

And it's really a dangerous stereotype to have because not only is this something that impacts, you know, us from the mainstream when it comes to the ban on blood donations, but it also affects us in terms of, going back to the internalized homophobia, we might view gay sex as being dirty, even when we're monogamous and being safe with somebody we trust.

So really, we need to continue pushing forward and taking the action to raise awareness around this and hopefully get others to realize that this deferral period really is discriminatory.

And that hopefully, with the HRC's continued work, we can get to a point where they will ease this deferral period even less or maybe have no deferral period at all for men who have sex with men.

And, one action I'd like you all to take is, after you're done listening to this episode, share this episode with a straight friend, a straight family member, whoever, who may not be aware of this.

Because, again, I think it's really important that we share this information with straight people because a lot of the times, again, going back to the legalization of same-sex marriage, following that, a lot of the times, they think we're completely equal and we're treated equal, but we're not.

I mean, it wasn't until June 2020 that we were protected from workplace discrimination. And this deferral period is just another example of an inequality and a stereotype against us.

So, share this episode with a straight person in your life and raise awareness around this issue.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (21:14)

So, as always, thank you for listening. Hope you enjoyed the episode. Hopefully, you found this helpful.

Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe. If you'd like to contact me, feel free to send me an email rob@ajadedgay.com.

You can also follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @ajadedgaypod. You can follow me, Rob Loveless, on Instagram @rob_loveless or on Twitter @robjloveless.

And remember, every day is all we have, so you got to make your own happiness.

Mmm-bye.

Outtake (22:08)

And again, in numerology, when we have double-digit numbers, we add them together. So, one plus two equals three.

Wait a minute. No, it's seven. Oh, that's right, because V is five in Roman numerals, X is 10.

Jesus, I can't do math.