Blood Donations & LGBTQ People
Did you know January is National Blood Donor Month? Blood donations are incredibly important to our healthcare system. Blood donations are needed for a variety of reasons, including childbirth, cancer, certain blood conditions, and serious injury. Every two seconds, an American needs a blood donation. Since we all have different blood types, it’s important that there is compatible blood available when we are in need. Blood donations tend to be less frequent in the winter months, but it’s important to donate all year-round, if you’re able to donate.
This in mind, the United States, alongside some other countries, have a history of restricting LGBTQ individuals’ ability to donate blood. Let’s discuss the history of this legislation:
Currently, any LGBTQ person who meets FDA eligibility criteria can donate blood in the United States. However, this criteria may affect LGBTQ people more than others. If in the past three months, someone has:
Had new sexual partner(s)
Had anal sex
Taken PrEP or PEP
They may be turned down for donation. This is largely because these factors can complicate screening the blood for HIV. HIV can take several months to appear on tests (and PrEP/PEP also complicates the ability to screen for HIV), so if you are engaging in activity deemed high-risk for HIV, you may be turned away for blood donation at that time. Because HIV tends to affect the LGBTQ community at higher rates, these guidelines tend to affect LGBTQ people more often.
Previously, until 2015, you could be turned away from blood donation on the basis of sexual identity alone. If you were a gay or bisexual man, for instance, regardless of your sexual history, you would be permanently barred from donating blood. This also included transgender women.
In 2020, this policy was changed to allow gay and bisexual men, and trans women, to donate blood as long as they had been celibate in the past three months. Since 2023, donors, regardless of identity, are asked the same, specific questions about sexual behavior.
If you are interested in donating blood, visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/ and enter your zip code.