Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., argued Tuesday that the government should end its ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, and argued that “the gender of one’s partner is no indication of whether one is engaging in risky behavior.”
Polis, along with Alan Grayson, D-Fla., the National Gay Blood Drive, Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), and the Equality Federation are leading the effort for a complete lifting of the ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.
Their effort is a reaction to the mass shooting that occurred at a gay nightclub in Orlando two weeks ago, where members of the gay community were denied the opportunity to give blood.
The FDA lifted its lifetime ban on gay men donating blood last year and has since updated its requirements. Now, gay men must be celibate for a year before they can give blood. Dr. Peter Marks, deputy director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA, has stated that the conditions are based on “the best available scientific evidence”.
But Dr. Paul Volberding, director of the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California San Francisco, believes the new policy is “not really supported by the facts.” On a call with reporters, Polis agreed and said there is “nothing inherently different about the blood of gay and bisexual people.”
Many Democrats in Congress share Polis’s views. Dozens of lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. have signed a letter asking the FDA Commissioner to remove the requirement.
The FDA states though that any changes, “must be data-driven … the timeframe for future changes is not something that can be predicted.”
