A Nationwide Blood Shortage Amid COVID-19: Why the Food & Drug Administration Should Lift All Restrictions On Gay and Bisexual Men Donating Blood

According to the American Red Cross, the United States is facing a nation-wide blood shortage.[i] This “crisis” has threatened patient care and has consequently forced doctors to essentially decide who should receive blood and who should not.[ii] The American Red Cross has claimed that “up to one quarter of hospital blood needs are not being met,” due to the shortage.[iii] The recent shortage has been a product of the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer people willing to step outside their homes and donate, staffing shortages, and weather conditions.[iv] The organization has strongly urged people to donate blood to remedy this emergency.[v] It cannot be stressed enough.[vi] It is important to donate blood to save lives. It is especially vital to donate blood amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unfortunately, however, the Food and Drug Administration, despite this national emergency for blood donations, refuses to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood without limitations.[vii] The ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood stems back to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.[viii] Up until December 2015, gay and bisexual men could not donate blood under any circumstances.[ix] In December 2015, the FDA finally decided that it would change its policy from a lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood, to a modest period where gay and bisexual men could not donate blood unless they remained abstinent for twelve months.[x]

Then again, in April 2020, amid COVID-19, the FDA announced a policy update that reduced the twelve-month window to three months.[xi] Pursuant to its recent “Revised Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Products” guidance, gay men must “defer for three months from the most recent sexual contact, a man who has had sex with another man during the past three months.”[xii] For example, if a gay or bisexual man has protected sex during a three month period, they are immediately barred from donating blood for another three months. [xiii] However, a woman may have unprotected sex with many individuals, at any given time, without any knowledge of their bedmate’s sexual history, and will still be able to donate blood.[xiv] So, if one is willing to wait three months to have sex with their partner to go donate blood, then, by all means, go donate blood! However, this is unreasonable and yet another obstacle the LGBTQ community faces in the United States. The FDA’s antiquated and discriminatory policy denying gay and bisexual men the privilege to donate blood is egregious and must be changed now.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that “Gay, bisexual, and other men who reported male-to-male sexual contact are disproportionately affected by HIV.”[xv] Yes, this is undoubtedly true, but a recent study conducted on HIV demographics found that 49% of new HIV diagnoses are among heterosexual people, compared with 45% for gay and bisexual men.[xvi] Therefore, this change in the HIV epidemic demographic must influence our government’s policies regarding gay and bisexual men.[xvii] It is time to break the stigma that HIV is a gay man’s disease.

The American Red Cross, the American Medical Association, and other leading U.S. public health organizations have urged the FDA to lift its discriminatory ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood.[xviii] It has been determined that if the FDA were to lift its ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood, “blood supply would increase by 2 to 4 percent or 345,400 to 615,300 pints of blood annually.”[xix] Even the chief medical officer of the American Red Cross has claimed that the three month wait period for gay and bisexual men donating blood is excessive.[xx] He stated, “[i]f you are infected with HIV, for the first one to two weeks you will test negative. So there’s a scientific rationale for saying, ‘Well, if there’s risk, there needs to be a delay.' But it’s not three months — it’s more like about 10 days.” Even the chief medical officer of the American Red Cross, a scientist and presumed expert on blood donation, believes that the FDA should lift its three-month ban.[xxi] Instead of relying on science, the FDA relies on stigma—and not only gay and bisexual men are suffering the consequences—all Americans are.[xxii]

[i] Rachel Treisman, The Red Cross says there’s a blood shortage nationwide. Here’s how you can help, NPR. (Jan 11, 2022).

[ii] Id.

[iii] Id.

[iv] Id.

[v] Id.

[vi] Id.

[vii] LGBTQ+ Donors, American Red Cross. https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/lgbtq-donors.html

[viii] Matt Lavietes, Critics call to end three-month celibacy requirement for gay, bisexual men amid blood shortage, NBC News. (Jan. 13, 2022).

[ix] Blood Donations, Human Rights Campaign. https://www.hrc.org/resources/blood-donations

[x] Id.

[xi] Id. 

[xii] Revised Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Products, Food & Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/media/92490/download

[xiii] See supra note 9.

[xiv] Id.

[xv] HIV, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/msm/index.html

[xvi] Ian Green, HIV now infects more heterosexual people than gay or bisexual men – we need a new strategy, The Guardian. (Feb. 9. 2022).

[xvii] Id.

[xviii] See supra note 7.  

[xix] Id.

[xx] Id.

[xxi] Id.

[xxii] Id.