“It suggests there is something inherently wrong and ‘dirty’ about gay and bisexual men that makes them diseased and dangerous to others.”
The ban does harm by perpetuating the stigma that HIV/AIDS is a “gay disease,” said Jason Cianciotto, GMHC’s vice president of communications and policy. MSM must be celibate for three months to give blood because of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy dating back 40 years to the onset of the AIDS crisis. blood supply is dangerously low because of a sharp drop in donations during the COVID-19 pandemic.Įven so, gay and bisexual men, clinically referred to as “men who have sex with men” or MSM, are still being told that their blood is too “dangerous” to donate. The American Red Cross issued an urgent appeal for blood donations in January, warning that the U.S.
