FDA Policy Change to be inclusive of gay/bi/non binary persons to donate blood

September 11, 2019
Commissioner Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, M.D.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Dear Dr. Sharpless:
We the undersigned kindly request your attention the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s
(FDA) current policy for men who have had sex with men (MSM) that requires a 12-month
deferral, or celibacy, period before being able to donate blood. The antiquated policy of requiring
12-month celibacy for MSM to donate blood is both discriminatory and harmful as it excludes an
entire population of healthy blood donors eager to help save lives.
Not only does the current MSM deferral policy deny MSM the chance to participate within their
community and give back to affected members of their community, it perpetuates an outdated
stigma surrounding their community. The 12-month celibacy policy suggests that sexual
relationships of MSM men and transgender women pose a heightened risk of HIV transmission;
we now know this to be false. Yet the current policy reinforces this negative and inaccurate
stereotype that we have fought so hard to eliminate. We believe that the FDA questionnaire
should reflect risk-based behaviors rather than one’s sexual orientation.
We appreciate the willingness of the FDA to engage in discussions pertaining to MSM deferral
policy and welcomed the official repeal in 2015 of the lifetime ban on MSM donating blood in
favor of the current 12-month celibacy requirement. We remain encouraged by the FDA’s
commitment to implementing safe, non-discriminatory practices. While the current
recommendations demonstrate an improvement over the previous lifetime ban, the science
backing the 12-month celibacy requirement is now obsolete given current blood screening
technology in identifying HIV/AIDS.
Considering this, we respectfully request an update to the FDA’s 12-month celibacy policy
pertaining to MSM. Under your leadership, we urge the FDA to reaffirm its sound commitment
to fighting discrimination and move towards policy changes that reflect a screening system based
on transfusion-transmissible infections rather than the donor’s sexual orientation, subjecting all
We are steadfastly committed to ending the FDA's discriminatory policy that prohibits many
healthy MSM from donating blood and moving to policies that secure our nation's blood supply
in a scientifically sound manner based on individual risk.