The federal Food and Drug Administration on Monday lifted its lifetime ban on blood donations from gay men.
The FDA now recommends that gay men be allowed to donate blood if they haven't had sexual contact with another man for at least one year.
The lifetime ban on gay male blood donors had been in place since 1983 — 32 years. So the new guidelines are a step in the right direction, says Matt Moonen of Equality Maine.
"But it's still, even with this update, a policy that's way out of date with science and where we should be on this issue," he says.
Shrinking the deferral period for when a gay man can donate blood from never to after one year of abstinence may sound like a huge change. But Moonen says that one-year wait time will still prevent a large number of men from donating blood.
"I'm a little skeptical of what kind of impact this will have," he says. "Of course, it's good to expand the universe of people who are able and willing to give blood, because we know donations are needed all the time."
Gay rights activists have pushed for an end to the ban for years.
"We had people come and donate blood on our behalf, and we worked with the Red Cross," says Michael Quint of Portland, who organized a local Gay Blood Drive Event last year as part of a national effort to push the FDA to change its policy. "The Red Cross was very supportive of our effort."
Nearly a decade ago, the Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks and America's Blood Centers called the lifetime ban on gay male blood donors "medically and scientifically unwarranted." In a written statement issued Monday, those organizations applauded the FDA's change in policy.
For its part, the FDA cited the fact that several other countries — including the U.K. and Australia — have a 12-month wait period for gay blood donors. And, according to the FDA, studies found no change in risk to the blood supply.
But Michael Quint says he still doesn't think a long wait period makes sense.
"They're still going to thoroughly check the blood and why, why we can't give blood — it's just beyond me," he says.
The Red Cross says it will take several months for blood centers to implement the new policy. Meanwhile, Quint, Moonen and other activists say they will continue to push the FDA to lift the ban entirely.
