Hoxworth to allow LGBTQ+ men to donate blood under FDA’s new guidance

CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Cincinnati’s Hoxworth Blood Center will soon allow LGBTQ+ men to donate blood after a lifetime ban was placed on the community for decades by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Hoxworth officials confirmed Monday that queer men, even those with one sexual partner, will be allowed to donate blood as early as December.

The policy change comes months after the FDA finalized its updated blood donation guidance.

In May 2023, the FDA issued a guidance document for blood centers to begin evaluating donors’ eligibility with “individual risk-based questions.”

According to the document, the FDA is recommending offices to begin asking potential donors questions about their history to evaluate risk.

• A history of testing positive for HIV.
• A history of ever taking a medication to treat HIV.
• A history in the past three months of taking an oral medication to prevent HIV infection.
• A history in the past two years of receiving any injection medication to prevent HIV infection.
• A history in the past three months of sex with a new partner. If so, the donor should be assessed for a history of anal sex within the past three months.

With these revised questions, everyone is on the same playing field now that they no longer pertain to just Queer men – they pertain to everybody interested in donating.

History of banning LGBTQ+ men from donating

Prior to the FDA’s new donor eligibility requirements, Queer men have had to deal with a laundry list of obstacles in order to donate blood in the U.S.

In 1985, the FDA issued a lifetime ban on men who have sex with men from donating blood as a result of the AIDS epidemic and a lack of advanced technology, according to the University of Pennsylvania College of Medicine. In turn, this prevented the majority of gay men from donating.

Twenty years later, the FDA lifted some of the restrictions, allowing men who have had sex with men more than one year ago to donate blood, the school wrote.

In 2020, the agency revised the deferral period for gay men to abstain from sex for 90 days to be eligible to donate blood.

Even with a more lenient rule, it still prevented many LGBTQ+ men from donating, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As hospital beds filled and thousands of families began to mourn their losses, the American Red Cross announced they were facing a severe blood shortage due to the outbreak.

Throughout the pandemic, dozens of public comments were made on the FDA’s docket in regards to changing the blood donation policy, including Whitman-Walker healthcare in Washington D.C.

Now those changes have come as Queer men will soon be able to donate blood, especially those within the Tri-State.

Hoxworth Blood Center says they will make a formal announcement soon.

For more information regarding LGBTQ+ blood donation status, visit Hoxworth’s website.

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