I founded Pride and Plasma to fight for queer men and our right to give blood.
It was personal.
While blood centers were crying out for donations, facing a national “blood crisis,” the FDA was continuing to defer healthy donors rather than update decades old policies. Medical professionals, LGBTQ+ advocates, and politicians had been telling the FDA to stop the discriminatory practice, with a stark lack of action on the agency’s behalf.
I wasn’t the first person to talk, care, or work on the issue, but I was uniquely suited. As a nursing and political science student, I had my foot in both political and healthcare arenas. The National Gay Blood Drive, in the early-to-mid 2010s, worked on the ground to show the impact of the policy. I had political experience from internships, activism projects on my college campus (mainly tackling sexual assault awareness), and the scientific and clinical understanding from my nursing curriculum.
Almost as importantly, I was — and am — angry.
I spent countless nights up until dawn, researching, reaching out to partners, educating over social media, and building our team. We had no funding- all costs came out of my pocket. I gave up 8 months of my life to this issue, and it was worth it.
But we shouldn’t have to fight this hard to do something as selfless as give blood.
Here are the facts:
- There is NO alternative for human blood donations.
- Canada, France, Israel, Mexico, Greece, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Austria, Hungary, Malta, and Netherlands all had policies more progressive than the United States, many for years prior to the FDA’s proposed updates on 1/27/23.
- The policy was implemented in 1985- the current best practice for blood donation testing (nucleic acid testing) was implemented nationally in 1999. The FDA upheld a policy that was based upon outdated practices for over 20 years.
- When we spoke at the FDA’s committee meeting on 12/8/22, it was the first opportunity for public comment in 13 months.
- Because of this, current and previous blood shortages were exacerbated by the mandate of turning away healthy, low-risk donors. Patients, medical facilities, and blood banks felt the impact while the FDA was a passive bystander.
This issue does not end here.
While this update is a win for trans women and non-binary individuals who were assigned male at birth, queer men in monogamous relationships and those who practice oral sex, the fight is far from over.
Outside of blood donation, the FDA requires a 5-year deferment policy for tissue donation from men who have sex with men. If a queer man passes away and has been sexually active in the past 5 years, the following tissues will not be given to any recipients- regardless of a match:
- Corneas: No significant wait
- Sclera
- Skin
- Heart Valves
- Dura Mater
- Bone
- Tendons
- Ligaments
- Cartilage
- Sperm
- Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells
Pride and Plasma isn’t going anywhere, we will keep fighting any and all policies that unfairly target queer patients and donors.
But we need your help. 🔥
IGNITE ACTION
- Add your comment to the FDA’s draft policy with updated deferment policies.
- Sign our petition on the 5-year tissue ban for queer men.
- If eligible under the current guidelines, donate blood. We’re still in a critical national shortage and there is no alternative for human blood donations. Give in place of those who are turned away.
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