Ban against gay blood donation

Campaigners say the ban hampers their access to crucial medical care as it bars them from taking blood from their partners or "chosen families". In many instances, donors might also feel compelled to lie about their sexuality while filling a mandatory form for making blood donations, to save the life of a loved one.

Blood donation policy is updated, allowing gay and bisexual men to give

In order to arrive at the decision, the FDA said it "examined a variety of recent studies, epidemiologic data and shared experiences from other countries that have made recent MSM deferral policy changes. People with hemophilia or related clotting disorders are also still barred from donating blood "for their own protection due to potential harm from large needles used during the donation process," the FDA said.

US lifts lifetime ban on gay blood donations

At the time, the federal health agency said it would use "gender-inclusive, individual risk-based questions" without compromising "the safety or availability of the blood supply. Questionnaires ask all donors about new or multiple sexual partners in the past three months.

However Let Us Give researcher Sharon Dane said while the changes were welcome, they aren't global best practice and could be confusing. Additional reporting by Lana Lam. Skip to content. Australia lifts blood, plasma donation ban for gay men. Share Save. Getty Images. The changes will begin taking effect from next month.