As soon as I was old enough, I began to donate regularly. But one thing always stood out to me during the pre-donation screening: right up there with the questions about whether I recently had a needle stick or if I had contact with another person’s blood was a question asking if I was a man who had sex with another man in the past year. As a young gay man, I found this confusing. If there were concerns over STIs, why single out gay men? Looking into the reasoning behind the question, I soon learned about a history where HIV/AIDS stigma and myths about gay people ran rampant. This screening of men who have sex with men was just another source of shame, confusion, and demonization that is almost universal for all young LGBTQ+ people. These deferrals for gay men who wish to donate blood are outdated, stigmatizing, unnecessary, and need to be removed.
Donating blood isn’t just a medical practice; it is a social act intertwined with culture.[1] Blood drives are often hosted by religious organizations, educational groups, workplaces, and other large social groups. In areas where donation is voluntary and without compensation (like the NY Blood Center, the donation organization where I live), blood donors are celebrated as heroes, saving the lives of trauma victims, children with leukemia, and countless others who need blood. The rules that govern who can donate blood and who can’t are generally controlled by the country’s health agency, such as the FDA in the United States.[2] Messages from blood banks impress upon potential donors from a young age that we have a responsibility to give back, to help save lives whenever we can. So what happens to those who cannot give blood? If giving blood makes you a hero, does not being able to make you a villain–or perhaps more accurately in the case of gay men, a victim?
Most countries, including the USA, have some form of deferral for men who have sex with men (MSM), typically for three months to a year, essentially barring sexually active gay, bisexual, and queer men from donating blood. Contributing to the issue is the vagueness of some guidelines; for example, the FDA guidelines for MSM who wish to donate is to defer three months from the last “sexual contact,” with no definition for what sexual contact entails. For MSM who are not publicly out, this can create uncomfortable moments—the whole church or office is going to donate, so why can’t you?