Will the FDA’s proposed changes to the gay blood donation ban change anything?

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed changes that would loosen restrictions on blood donations from men who have sex with other men (MSM).

The FDA’s proposal would eliminate its current mandatory three-month celibacy period for MSM and women who have sex with MSM. However, it would still require people who have anal sex or take pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication to abstain from doing either three months before donating.

As such, the policies could predominantly cause MSM to continue to be rejected as blood donors.

The FDA used to require MSM to abstain from anal sex with same-sex partners (with or without a condom) for one year before donating blood. Straight people, on the other hand, could have unprotected sex with opposite-sex partners and donate whenever they like. In April 2020, the FDA changed the MSM abstinence period from one year to 3 months in response to declining donations at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new proposal would take an “individualized assessment approach,” asking all donors, regardless of gender, about their sexual partners and activities over the last three months.

“All prospective donors who…

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