--- title: FDA Revises Ban Blood Donations from Gay, Bisexual Men description: Now men who have sex with men are subjected to a one year waiting period for donations canonical: https://time.com/4157214/gay-men-blood-donation/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-21T17:30:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:32:59.699Z article:section: Health og:title: FDA Revises Ban Blood Donations from Gay, Bisexual Men og:description: Now men who have sex with men are subjected to a one year waiting period for donations og:url: https://time.com/4157214/gay-men-blood-donation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt879c298274b235d8/698876590b72e383c16e75de/blood-donor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: 155146213 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Revises Ban Blood Donations from Gay, Bisexual Men twitter:description: Now men who have sex with men are subjected to a one year waiting period for donations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt879c298274b235d8/698876590b72e383c16e75de/blood-donor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gay Men Can Now Give Blood—After a Wait > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 21, 2015 5:30 PM UTC  Nurse Drawing Blood Nurse Drawing Blood Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 21, 2015 5:30 PM UTC The Food and Drug Administration has lifted a decades-long policy banning gay and bisexual men from donating blood in order to prevent HIV transmission through blood. But men who have sex with men (MSM) will still be subject to a one-year waiting period from the date of their last sexual encounter. “Based on the evidence now available, [FDA](http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/BloodBloodProducts/QuestionsaboutBlood/ucm108186.htm) has changed its recommendation from the indefinite deferral for MSM to a 12 month blood donor deferral since last MSM contact,” the FDA says. The government has revised its policies on several occasions over the last decade and this is just the latest step. According to the FDA, the policy was reconsidered in 2010. The government affairs director of the Human Rights Coalition called the change a “step in the right direction.” “This new policy prevents men from donating life-saving blood based solely on their sexual orientation rather than actual risk to the blood supply,”said David Stacy, HRC’s Government Affairs Director. “While it’s a step in the right direction toward an ideal policy that reflects the best scientific research, it still falls far short of a fully acceptable solution because it continues to stigmatize gay and bisexual men.” Under the new recommendations, people who have ever tested positive for HIV, exchanged sex for money or drugs, and other factors are barred from donating blood. Additionally, people who have gotten a tattoo or piercing within the past year are subjected to a one-year waiting period. 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