American Red Cross to allow gay men to donate blood
The American Red Cross announced a historic change in the organization’s policies regarding blood donations by gay and bisexual men.
Under this new donor screening process, all donors answer the same eligibility questions regardless of gender or sexual orientation and will be assessed for blood donation based on individual risk factors, not on sexual orientation.
This change by the Red Cross falls within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized guidelines for blood donation issued this past May that will use a uniform individualized risk assessment questionnaire for respondents regardless of their sexual orientation, sex, or gender.
In a statement the Red Cross noted: “This change means many healthy individuals who previously could not give will now be able to support their community through the gift of blood donation.” Andrew Goldstein, a cancer researcher from Los Angeles, was a regular blood donor in his younger years before the FDA’s previous policies made him ineligible to donate as a gay man.
