The Federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety & Availability will take up the issue of the gay blood donation ban which has barred gay men from donating blood since 1983. It was instituted at the time because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to protect the general public.
Things are different now. First of all, we all understand now that AIDS is not a gay disease, and that it effects all populations. Second, in 1983 we didn’t have the technology to detect the disease in donated blood. Now, all donated blood is screened for HIV before being allowed in to the nation’s blood supply. Still, the current guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration state that any man who has had sex with another man since 1977, even if it was only once, is barred from donating blood.
The issue will be taken up on June 10th & 11th, and recommendations will be made to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA.
