#Pride101:

In 1983--at the height of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the United States--the CDC instituted a lifteime ban of blood donations from gay men (specifically “men who have sex with men,” a distinction necessitated by a sizable population of MSM who refuse for any number of reasons to be identified as gay or bisexual). The ban was actually even broader than that; it also included women who have sex with MSM and transgender people. At the time, HIV was--and was perceived by the broader population to be exclusively--a “gay disease” and was gleefully used by religious hate groups to perpetuate their vilification of--and mock and exploit the deaths of--gay people. The ban was an extreme measure, but as 1980s technologies in HIV detection weren’t very effective it was seen as prudent--with no resistance from leading gay organizations--and it no doubt prevented an even larger American HIV epidemic. As HIV spread beyond the gay population, the infection demographics leveled out and HIV-detection technologies advanced, in 2015 the guidelines regarding blood donations from MSM were reduced from a lifetime ban to a one-year-of-celibacy ban. Today, the Insti HIV test--considered to be the most accurate--has a 99.96% accuracy rate, with results provided in one minute. (For the record, the relatively small populations of people with certain medical conditions, people on certain medications and people who have had blood transfusions are subject to restrictions and bans.) With often desperately low stockpiles of donated blood in the United States, there is no reason to specifically ban blood donations from MSM based on outdated demographic medical information and stigmas regarding HIV. But progress is being made; many 2020 Democratic candidates include a repeal of the ban in their platforms. The march to erase the stigma and embrace 21st Century medicine is on, and gay people without other risks are proudly willing to step up and do our part as blood donors.